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All the best Young Africans
2006-03-04 09:46:47
By Editor
As Yanga today continue their quest for a place in the next round of the Champions League, we wish to state that we shall be with them in spirit.
It is without doubt that football in the country has not brought any pride, at best, we have only competed in preliminary rounds of the World Cup, and the Africa Cup before being eliminated.
In September, the country resumes its Africa Cup campaign, after being placed in a tricky group involving Senegal, Burkina Faso, and Mozambique.
On paper, it looks like it will be another of those qualifiers where we exit in preliminary rounds, but with football, anything is possible.
Who, for instance, would have thought, Greece, could be the Champions of Europe? But today they are at the expense of bigger teams like England, the Netherlands, Portugal, France and Italy, just to name a few.
But miracles only happened in biblical times. Even for Greece, their winning of the most prized competition in Europe was as a result of hard work, good team spirit, and of course, a good side.
Most of the players who made up that Greece side, like Stelios Gianakopolous (Bolton Wanderers), and Karisteas (Ajax) have gone on to play some of the great football in the English, and Dutch leagues.
We need to re-establish as a power-house in football. Our clubs, especially Simba, and Yanga, are household names in African football, it is our national side which continues limping.
Soccer fans in Tanzania, love their teams, they love football. They turn-up in large numbers to support local clubs.
The fans’ only blemish is they are not united when a foreign team plays one of the clubs. This was witnessed when Yanga played Zanaco here. Simba supporters, in large numbers, were supporting Zanaco.
Yanga supporters, equally do the same when Simba play an international match. That should come to an end. When a Tanzanian team plays an international match, it represents the country, and we should all support it.
This is why, collectively as a newspaper, we are wishing Yanga well as they play Zanaco in Lusaka. Victory, or even a draw, will see Yanga through.
We believe Yanga could achieve that with its talented players and the right attitude towards the match.
What should not detract the team are the off-the-pitch jibes from Zanaco and their fans, including the reported poor diet. That is not uncommon in African football.
What is important, though, is for Yanga to ride against the tide and win. That is the best way to respond to intimidation.
Once they win, even the morale for the national side will be high as they start their campaign for Ghana 2008. The national team need every kind of motivation to challenge the likes of Senegal.
We need an experienced coach, a good selection of players, and most of all, the support from everybody to go to Accra in 2008.
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