THE Taifa Stars started the year with new vigour, new zeal and new speed following a remarkable win over Burkina Faso in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in September last year. The win over the Burkinabe giants, which came after nine years of win-less run in the World Cup and Nations Cup qualifiers, fired up the country, instilled confidence in the players and people started chanting: “Ghana, here we come!”
The honeymoon continued when the team travelled to Mozambique a month later, where they managed a barren draw putting them at the top of Group D with four points. The results translated into an improved FIFA ranking. Tanzania moved from 175 to 109 position in the world. The people became proud of their country and slowly but surely the team started getting supporters.
The Brazilian coach Marcio Maximo who was hired by President Jakaya Kikwete was on a mission to change the face of football in the country. After spending six months with the team, Maximo realized that players lacked exposure. Sponsors and the government were there to listen to him.
Immediately arrangements were made for the team to camp in Brazil for four weeks to enhance their preparations for their tough match in the year 2007 against Senegal. After the historical trip, the team looked refreshed and ready to face World Cup 2002 quarter finalists Senegal.
Some players even started comparing themselves with Brazilian players. The hype was much; every street corner talked about Stars and the team was now being cherished by its people. The time to experiment whether the Brazilian tour could yield fruits arrived and on 19th March, the squad left for Dakar. And with Tanzania leading the group on four points, Senegal was not ready for any surprises and they called all their foreign-based players.
Senegal humiliated Stars, they thrashed them 4-0 and the whole city went dead silent as the match was being telecast live on a local TV channel. This proved that the road ahead was still rugged. The AFCON campaign was in a crisis and as usual people started questioning the whole point of camping in Brazil for almost a month Some ‘coaches’ said it didn’t make sense to go to Brazil well knowing that the team was going to play fellow African teams.
But Maximo didn’t waste his time listening to them; he gave them a deaf ear and continued with his strategies looking forward to the next match. Amidst these criticisms, his employer, President Kikwete stood by him, he led the spectators to Mwanza for the return league against Senegal. And this was the moment during which the team showed they were still a force to reckon with.
Nizal Khalifan, who had scored the winning goal against Burkina Faso, opened the scoring with a well-taken shot outside the box but luck was not on the team’s side, as Senegal battled and managed to salvage a point. The next destination was Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. The team and the fans had no hopes prior to the match.
But on Saturday night June 16, little known Erasto Nyoni, who plays his club football in Burundi, did unexpected. He scored the lone goal that sent people streaming out of their houses into the streets nation-wide to celebrate. Yes, Tanzania 1 Burkina Faso 0. This opened a new page of football in the country.
From Ouagadougou instead of taking a direct flight to Dar es Salaam, they were requested to pass via Mwanza and then Dodoma. History was written when the squad was called in the Parliament to be honoured. The MPs were so excited that some did not know even what they were saying and they ended up pledging a total of 322m/- for the pride the team had brought to the country.
Once again the ranking improved tremendously to 102th. Football cut across everything in the country even business men started making big profits from the success the team had attained. Commercial items with Star’s colours became hot cake in town. T-shirts, pennants, bandanas and truck suits were selling a lot.
With this big success, companies and organizations came out to rally behind Kilimanjaro and NMB as the first sponsors of the team On the technical side, Maximo organized for a European tour and the team went to Denmark and Switzerland before their final group match with Mozambique.
The team wanted a win from this last game and prayed that Senegal would slip up against Burkina Faso, so that they would go to the top of the table with 11 points and a ticket to Ghana. But again if Senegal were to win and also Tanzania win, Tanzania would have joined the best loser’s group and the only way to prepare for this crunch match Maximo thought European trip was the best option.
The trip was not a success in terms of results, as the team lost most of their games to lowly teams. The team came back ready for do or die match on September 8th. People travelled from all corners of the country to come and be part of history by witnessing the team go to Ghana after 27 years.
Songs were composed and even a prize was announced for the best song that could suit the whole occasion. A huge ball was moved around the city for people to append their signatures as a way of expressing their support to the team. The people were ready, companies ready and the stadium partially ready it was only D-day to the match day.
The Mozambicans arrived on the day of the match and they refused to go to the hotel that was booked for them. African beliefs traverse across Africa as these people were afraid of 'juju'. An English man always says expect the unexpected at any time and in the first minute Angola took a lead through Tico-Tico and that was the score line up to the end of the game.
Many people were disappointed, frustrated and started accusing the coach for all the mistakes he had made. Many said he was not fit for the job but fortunately they are not the ones that were paying him his salary. The dream had been shattered because many thought, after 20 years of wait, there was no sweet moment than this qualifying for the AFCON.
Tanzania which was leading the group with four points at the beginning of the tournament, now finished in third place with 8 points. The coach picked the pieces and started looking forward for the World Cup qualifiers but many wonder if someone who has failed a form two exam will pass a form four exam.
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