Tanzania in action at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, during CHAN 2024. [Cafoline]
Clement Mzize lit up Benjamin Mkapa Stadium with a dazzling brace inside the first 20 minutes on Saturday and the Chan co-hosts are dreaming of cup glory after booking a slot in the quarter-finals.
Mzize’s heroics powered Taifa Stars to a 2-1 triumph over Madagascar in front of the jubilant home crowd which maintained a flawless Group B run.
Coach Hemed ‘Morocco’ Suleiman’s boys have registered three straight wins, netting five goals and conceding only once. The victory cemented their lead at the top of the group.
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“We started very well and put them under pressure by scoring two early goals, we tried to form a good rhythm and it worked. Madagascar are athletic, they play long balls and it was not easy for us considering we have played three games in one week, I think it is a fair result and I am proud of my players,” Suleiman said.
“Hamza (Abdulrazack Hamza) has been struggling with a hamstring injury and today he looked heavy in his position. Madagascar are quick so it was purely tactical to replace him with someone faster but generally he played well but we needed more speed,” said coach Suleiman on the key early change that made him bring in Shekhani Khamis in place of Abdulrazack Hamza in midfield.
The Taifa Stars coach is now looking forward to the quarter-finals but says the tournament was tough and needs strong tactics but he is hoping Taifa Stars can win the trophy.
“We pressed well, stayed compact and tried counter attacks in the second half. We could have scored more than four goals in the first half alone,” the coach said.
Man of the Match Mzize was also elated with the victory in front of the home fans.
“We thank God for enabling us reach here, being crowned Man of the Match is because of our coach who is like a father to us and he told us to start with a good pace and score early and that’s exactly what we did,” said Mzize.
The 21-year-old Yanga forward also reflected on the historic achievement.
”We thank Tanzanians for believing in us and giving us support and we hope and pray this cup stays in Tanzania,” he said.
Tanzania had not only reached the Chan knockout stage for the first time but have done it in style topping Group B with nine points ahead of Mauritania who have four points, Burkina Faso are third with three points but with a game in hand while Madagascar have one point with Central African Republic yet to register a single point.
“I call upon Tanzanians to came out in large numbers to cheer us, we are their army we will fight for them and we will try our best to make them proud,” Suleiman said.
“We have started monitoring the teams we might face but first we must win all our group matches, the job is not over,” he added.
Taifa Stars are likely to face Harambee Stars at Benjamin Mkapa if Benni McCarthy’s charges finish second in their group.