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Tanzanian players celebrate scoring their team's first goal during the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) 2024 group F football match between Zambia and Tanzania at Stade Laurent Pokou in San Pedro on January 21, 2024 (CREDIT: AFP)
Tanzania and Congo are to battle for a spot in the round of 16 in their final group game at the ongoing 2023 TotalEnergies CAF African Cup of Nations.
The match, which will be played late Wednesday (today) at Stade Amadou Gon Coulibaly in Cote d’Ivoire, will be aired by 9 p.m. Nigerian time.
Second-placed DR Congo drew their last two matches, playing 1-1 against Zambia and Morocco.
However, a win for Congo will earn them a total of five points.
Congolese head coach, Sebastien Desabrie, said the game is important to the team. He said, “We need the victory and we also want to qualify because that is very important. We do not want to find ourselves in a situation of making calculations.
“We want to win and gain automatic qualification because anything less than that puts our fate outside of our hands.”
The Taifa Stars of Tanzania, however, also remain hopeful of earning a spot in the Round of 16.
Tanzania lost 3-0 to table leaders Morocco and played a 1-1 draw against Zambia.
With just one point at the bottom of the table, the East African nation is on the brink of exiting the AFCON tourney, however, a win will earn them four points.
Tanzanian assistant coach, Hemed Suleiman, has stated that the match against Congo is “a final for us.”
“We tried to work on our problems. These games are hard but there is solidarity in the group.
“Ours for now is to focus on tomorrow’s game. We have to forget about the previous games and focus on this new task.”
The team will play without head coach, Adel Amrouche, who was suspended after the team’s debut 3-0 loss against Morocco in the tourney.
The Leopards drew 1-1 against Tanzania in the first leg before a 3-0 win in the 2021 World Cup qualifier matches.
Possible line-up:
Tanzania first XI: Manula, Mnoga, Nondo, Hamad, Husseini, Mkami, Yassin, Msuva, Salum, Denis, Samatta.
Congo first XI: Mpasi-Nzau, Kalulu, Mbemba, Baka, Masuaku, Pickel, Moutous-samy, Bongonda, Kakuta, Wissa, Bakambu.
