Tanzania & Uganda in high spirits ahead of Fifa U20 World Cup qualifier

Tanzania and Uganda have exuded confidence ahead of their Fifa U-20 World Cup showdown in Dar es Salaam on Sunday.

The two nations will clash during the first leg encounter and both sides hope to pick up wins before the second leg which will be held at the StarTimes Stadium in Lugogo on February 1.

Tanzania star Clement Opa has stated why they are going to fight for a win for the country.

“We believe in the quality of the team and individual players. The spirit in the camp is high and we believe we have what it takes to give joy to Tanzanians. We are not going to let them down because we will fight for good results,” Opa told Daily News.

On her part, Ugandan coach Oliver Mbekeka stressed the need to win the match before the Kampala showdown next month.

“We are set and very ready for the game. Our target is not only to win the game but to do it with a lot of goals because this is a two-legged competition and so we need to score as many goals as possible that may be helpful going into the second leg,” Mbekeka said.

In an earlier interview with Daily Monitor, Mbekeka had explained they were not entirely depending on strikers Juliet Nalukenge and Fauzia Najjemba during the tie against Tanzania. Nalukenge and Najjemba were key when Uganda downed Ethiopia in a U17 World Cup qualifier earlier in the week.

“I think they [Nalukenge and Najjemba] are important players but we are not entirely reliant on them. We expect them to produce but we also have quite a number of options in case things are not going their way,” the coach said.

“For the number of games those two have played, we know fatigue can set in but we are working well with them on recovery.”

On Friday, Mbekeka named a full squad that will entertain the Tanzanian side after almost a week of residential camping at Fufa Training Centre in Njeru.