Tanzania coach Ninje backs Zanzibar Heroes to bag Cecafa crown

Tanzania national football team head coach Ammy Conrad Ninje has no regrets after his side’s elimination from the ongoing Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup in the group stage, saying ‘young brothers’ Zanzibar will make amends for them.

Despite the Heroes being one of the teams that contributed to their early exit after beating them 2-1, Kinje, who will have to use some of the Zanzibar players in the forthcoming FIFA competitions under the umbrella of Tanzania’s Taifa Stars, has termed the islanders as competition favourites.

“Absolutely, let any team ignore Zanzibar at their own peril. They came as underdogs, but they have proved they are among the teams to beat.

“They are a big deal in this tournament, and I see them lifting the trophy without much struggle,” Ninje said.

Having finished second in group ‘A’ that had the hosts, two 2018 African Football Champions (Chan) bound teams (Libya and Rwanda), Zanzibar proved they are no fluke in the 39the edition of the oldest regional showpiece.

They kicked off their campaign with a 3-1 win over Rwanda, before silencing Tanzania’s Kilimanjaro Stars, followed by a goalless draw against Kenya’s Harambee Stars.

In their last group fixture, head coach Hemed ‘Morocco’ Suleiman started with six of his first team players on the bench, and struggled to match Libya especially in the first stanza, with Alharaish Zakariah scoring the only goal to deny them a top spot finish.

Thus, the Heroes booked a date on December 15 against champions Uganda at the Kisumu County Stadium, the latter having topped group ‘B’ above Burundi on goal difference.

“Yes I can say the changes I made in the team may have impacted the result, but the most important thing is that we are in the semis. All the players I brought here deserve playtime, therefore it is never about who played and who never played.

“It would have been sweeter to finish top in the group but for the team we face in the semis, the difference is the same. Any team in the last four is a serious contender, whether Burundi or Uganda,”Suleiman charged in a post match interview on Monday.

Unique inspiration

While other teams in the tournament are playing in a regional tournament that over some years has lost its allure and prestige, Zanzibar are in the biggest stage they can possibly compete in.

Their adoption into Confederation of African Football (CAF) membership in March 2017 lasted only four months, with the continental football governing body axing them during the phenomenal symposium in Rabat, Morocco.

Zanzibar thus draws unique inspiration from the desire to prove to the world that their talent befits recognition by FIFA and CAF.

“There are so many good players in Zanzibar who never get a chance to play in big stage football simply because we are not in CAF calendars.

“We had come up with robust programs to raise a formidable senior national team through age-group teams after adoption into CAF, but there is a sense of disenfranchisement that engulfed the football fraternity when we were stripped of the membership.

A Zanzibari player who sought anonymity, citing a perceived political connotation vis-á-vis the islanders football full autonomy, also weighed in: “We are however optimistic one day Zanzibar’s flag will fly high in FIFA and CAF competitions.”

Interestingly, the team last played together in 2015, during the 38th Cecafa edition in Ethiopia.

They were assembled together two weeks before travelling to Kenya for the tournament, and to them, it’s so far so good.