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Angola match, eye opener for Stars
2006-11-04 08:56:51
By Editor
The Angolan national team has agreed to come to Dar es Salaam for a friendly match against Taifa Stars on November 15.
They confirmed their availability to the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) last week.
The friendly will help Taifa Stars’ preparation for the Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup tournament in Ethiopia later this month.
It will also provide coach Marcio Maximo with an opportunity to test the strength of his team ahead of the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match against Senegal in March, next year.
The squad is expected to start training early next week in preparation for the friendly game.
The fact that the Angolan national team has agreed to play the friendly game is a blessing in disguise for the Stars for this will give them the much needed experience.
This is so because the Angolan side is an experienced team in Africa and competed in the last World Cup in Germany.
The friendly will also act as an eye opener for the Stars for it will help them identify their areas of weakness so that they can rectify them before the up coming matches.
It is our hope that the team will train vigilantly so that next time they register a win and make it to the Africa Cup of Nations finals in Ghana.
So far, everything seems to be in place for the Stars who are yet to test a defeat.
This time around the Stars should aim for something higher than a draw.
There is no need to waste chances, opportunity knocks only once in a lifetime.
It is our hope that they will continue to get the much needed moral support that they have been getting from government, wananchi and political parties.
Soccer has proved to be a unifying factor and it is our hope that it will continue to play the role. This can be enhanced if the team keeps winning.
However, this is not to say that we should stop rallying behind the team if it loses.
The truth of the matter is that the team should always get maximum moral and material support even if it loses so that it keeps fighting hard to make it to the top.
Let Stars make the best out of this friendly match. It is a golden opportunity and it should not be allowed to slip off without bringing about any benefits to the team.
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