President Samia Suluhu applauds Taifa Stars for booking AFCON 2023 ticket

The President of the Republic of Tanzania, Samia Suluhu Hassan has praised the national football team for qualifying for the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Natios (AFCON) 2023.

Taifa Stars battled to a goalless draw away to Algeria on Thursday night in Annaba to collect a vital point which saw them qualify for their third AFCON competition.

” Congratulations to our Taifa Stars for qualifying for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations finals. You have written history as this is our 3rd time qualifying since the inception of this competition. I wish you all the best, ” said the Tanzanian President.

Tanzania went into the match in need of a win or a draw bearing in mind that a positive result for the Uganda Cranes Cranes against Niger would affect them. But the Taifa Stars battled gallantly from the kick-off to the end defending in numbers and frustrating the home side that dominated the match.

The draw and Uganda’s 2-0 win against Niger cleared the path for Tanzania to return to the big stage where they last featured in 2019 in Egypt.

Adel Amrouche, the Tanzanian head coach praised his players after the match for dying a little for the country. ” It was a very tough match against a very experienced team playing infront of their fans. But I thank my players for following instructions and not giving up, ”  said the happy Amrouche.

Simon Msuva, one of the key Taifa Stars players said it was a great feeling returning back to the Africa Cup of Nations. ” We came to Algeria knowing it would not be an easy match. But we stuck together as a team and fought to get a good result, ” added Msuva.

Tanzania are now the only team from the Council of East and Central Africa Football Associatins (CECAFA) Zone that have booked a place for the AFCON 2023 to take place in Cote d’Ivoire. Sudan and Burundi are the other teams that still have a chance to qualify.

The AFCON 2023 will take place in five host cities in Cote d’Ivoire from 13 January to 11th February 2024.