Star’s AFCON hopes in limbo

DAR ES SALAAM: TAIFA Stars pace to secure early qualification for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals was delayed after suffering a 2-0 loss against the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday.

Substitute Meshack Elia netted a brace to guarantee his side’s qualification for the next year’s AFCON finals to be held in Morocco.

It was their fourth consecutive win and have bagged 12 points in the process to still top Group H of the qualifiers with two games to go before ending the campaign.

However, Stars kicked off the match with confidence getting three corners in space of the opening 5 minutes but none of them made the difference.

With full backing from home fans, it was clear that they wanted to register a quick goal to cool down the encounter before it was too late.

DRC had their first shot on target in the 18th minute, but it was easy for Taifa Stars goalie Ally Salim who coolly grabbed the ball to put his side safe.

In the 39th minute, Kibu Denis pin-point header narrowly missed the target from Mbwana Samatta‘s cross, the best scoring opportunity hunted so far by the hosts.

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The visitors responded back with a long-range surprising shot by Simon Banza in the 41st minute that compelled Stars shot-stopper Salim to make a spectacular save for a fruitless corner.

Here, the game was balanced with each team eager to make a breakthrough before the halftime whistle but goals were nowhere to be seen until the break.

At the restart, Banza saw his close-range header denied by Salim in the 46th minute and a few minutes later, Feisal Salum misused a glittering chance that went begging for the hosts.

First substitution for Stars came in the 56th minute when Lusajo Mwaikenda was withdrawn for Bakari Mwamnyeto in a bid to fortify the defensive line.

In the 72nd minute, DRC rested Banza and Theo Mbongonda for Fiston Mayele and Nathaniel Mbuku and later, Mudathir Yahya paved the way for Himid Mao for the hosting side.

Despite changes and attempts, it was a bad day at office for the country’s envoys though they still have another six points to fight for from their two remaining encounters.

Next, Ethiopia will host Tanzania at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam on November 10th for a fifth AFCON qualifiers match.

Ethiopia opted to use the 60,000-capacity stadium as their home venue and they used the same arena against DR Congo in their second match of the campaign which they lost 2-0.

However, when Tanzania hosted Ethiopia in the group H opener of the qualifiers, the game elapsed goalless as nothing was produced to separate the duo.

On November 18th, Taifa Stars will welcome Guinea at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium to wind up their 2025 AFCON qualifiers mission.

In their first leg meeting at Charles Konan Banny Stadium in Ivory Coast, Taifa Stars enjoyed a 2-1 win thanks to Feisal Salum and a late strike from Mudathir Yahya that awarded Stars their first win of the qualifiers.