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Dar es Salaam. The national football team (Taifa Stars) today face Bulgaria in the world football governing body (FIFA)’s Series of international friendly matches.
The match has been scheduled to kick off at 4pm Tanzanian time at the Dalga Arena in Baku, Azerbaijan.
The encounter is very important for Taifa Stars ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) and World Cup qualifiers including improving their position in the FIFA rankings.
Currently, Tanzania are ranked 119th while Bulgaria are 83rd. Taifa Stars interim head coach Hemed “Morocco” Suleiman predicted a tough match against one of the famous football nations in Europe, saying, however, that their main target is to register victory.
Suleiman added that his players are in high spirit ahead of the encounter, promising to deliver their best.
“It is going to be a tough match as we are facing one of the famous football nations. We will be without our captain, Mbwana Samatta and key striker Saimon Msuva, but I trust other players to do their best in the encounter,” said Suleiman.
For his part, the team’s assistant captain, Himid Mao, said they are in high morale, despite the climate challenge.
“We will have to be very keen as we are going to play against a tough team, although for the first time. We have trained well, and we believe we will come out victorious,” said Mao.
Aside from Tanzania, other countries that have been given the chance are Algeria, South Africa, Cape Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea and Central African Republic.
The countries will feature in special groups together with teams from other continents such as Europe, the South American Football Confederation (Conmebol), Asia, and North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf).
According to the fixture, Taifa Stars will be in action again on March 25 facing Mongolia. Apart from Azerbaijan, other countries that will host the matches to be facilitated by FIFA are Algeria, Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka.
The initiative provides member associations with a more regular opportunity to face national teams from other continents, which will serve to unlock technical development opportunities previously unavailable to many of them.
The FIFA Series also provide the participating member associations with their own additional commercial opportunities and exposure.
The forthcoming edition of the FIFA Series will feature national teams from all six confederations.
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