Tanzania women’s national team must beat group leaders Ivory Coast in their final Group B match to secure a place in the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) quarter-finals, Coach Bakari Shime has said.
The two sides meet at Larbi Zaouli Stadium in Casablanca, Morocco today, with Tanzania third in the group on three points, behind Burkina Faso on head-to-head record. Ivory Coast lead on four points, while South Africa are bottom with one.
Shime said Tanzania used training sessions to address mistakes from the previous match, particularly in building and finishing attacks. Tanzania opened their campaign with a 2-1 victory over South Africa, but suffered a 2-1 defeat to Burkina Faso on Friday, leaving them needing a positive result in their final group match.
“We worked on the mistakes that emerged in the previous game, especially in starting attacks, maintaining them and how to finish the same,” Shime said.
He added that the team also needs to show greater composure when building attacks from the back, after rushing to play long balls without clear reason in the previous match against Burkina Faso.
Tanzania conceded the first goal after losing possession while trying to force a quick decision, Shime said.
“We want our players to be calm when building attacks and to have a clear plan based on the tactics we have prepared as a team,” he said.
The coach acknowledged the pressure surrounding the final group match after Tanzania missed the chance to secure qualification in the previous game.
He said the team had to put that disappointment behind them and focus on the match against Ivory Coast. “The only place to correct it is on the pitch in the next (today’s) game,” Shime said.
He added that players were recovering from the pressure surrounding the previous result and were preparing for the decisive match.
Tanzania’s victory over Ivory Coast would guarantee their progress to the quarter-finals, while the group standings leave the final places to be decided on the last round of matches.
