“Stars turn focus on Gambia”

TAIFA Stars head coach Kim Poulsen insists his side has now firmly focused on bouncing back in the forthcoming group C’s 2014 World Cup Qualifiers, African Zone, against Gambia penned for Sunday in Dar es Salaam.

Kim said Stars have to put behind the disappointment of losing the opening match of the qualifiers against Cote d’ Ivoire ‘Elephants’ last Saturday

and focus on overcoming Gambia in the home fixture. “The task of building the team has just started.

The match against Cote d’ Ivoire has already been played and I thank the players for following my instructions and work hard... football is a game full of mistakes and we committed mistakes that handed Cote d’ Ivoire cheap goals”, said Kim.

Stars succumbed to a 2-0 defeat to the West African giants in the match played at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium in Abidjan to see the latter command an impressive start to their campaign.

“But, like I said, the match is behind us now...right now we are focusing on the forthcoming match against Gambia. We don’t have another time to prepare and that is why I decided to come with all players to Abidjan”, added Kim.

Stars’ match against Gambia, according to the Tanzania Football

Federation (TFF) Information Officer, Boniface Wambura, is expected to start at 4p.m.

Gambia forced a 1-1 draw with Morocco in another group C match played at the former’s backyard in Banjul last Saturday. Stars have been dealt a big blow prior to facing Gambia as the former will miss the services of centre back, Aggrey Morris, who was given marching orders last Saturday for a second bookable offence.

Kim, for that matter, opted to start giving his players scoring techniques

during the training session at the Cote d’ Ivoire Football Federation (FIF) ground on Sunday morning. The training was meant to serve as the beginning of serious preparations for the match against Gambia.

Wambura said according to Kim’s training programme, Stars were, again, scheduled to train at the FIF ground yesterday morning prior to starting the trip back to Dar es Salaam at 7.30p.m. The team was expected to board the Nairobi-bound Kenya Airways flight and was to arrive in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday at 7.40 a.m.

Kim also expressed satisfaction on the performance of his players against Cote d’ Ivoire, based on the changes that Stars showed in the game. Kim

admitted that there are still some weaknesses in Stars’ striking force, adding that the match was an opportunity for him to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the players.

He said he will take the positives out of Stars’ performance in the game, apart from working on the weaknesses that came up so that the team could perform well in forthcoming assignment. The Danish said the match against

Gambia, penned for Sunday this week at the National Stadium in Dar es

Salaam, is extremely important for Stars considering that the Tanzanian side is seeking crucial three points and stay in better position in the qualifiers.

“The match was really tough but the boys have played well, irrespective of the weaknesses they showed. I believe we will perform well in the forthcoming matches because I will work on the weaknesses”, he said. Kim had to do without four dependable players, striker Thomas Ulimwengu,

midfielders Nurdin Bakari and Haruna Moshi, and defender, Nassoro Masoud ‘Cholo’, last Saturday because the quartet sustained injuries when Stars was preparing for the clash. By FADHILI AKIDA, Tanzania Daily News www.dailynews.co.tz