by Nisha Ligon, www.twigastars.com Last night, under a Seattle downpour, the Twiga Stars (Tanzania‘s National
Women’s Football Team) took on the Seattle Sounders Women in a thrilling and
hard-fought match, which ended in a 4-2 victory for the Sounders. The game
was played at the Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, WA, in front of a
mixed crowd of Seattle Sounders fans and Seattle Tanzanians. The Sounders
Women opened the scoring in the 6th minute, and following soon after with a
second goal off an impressive diving header. By the 40th minute, the
Tanzania ladies were down 3-0, but they managed to put one in before the
halftime whistle when winger Mwanahamis Ommary scored directly from a corner
kick, which she expertly curved into the net. Tanzania picked up the pace
after this and almost had another goal when the Sounders keeper just barely
managed to save long range left-footed free kick by Eto Mlenzi.
In the second half the Sounders came out strong again. Tanzania goalkeeper
Fatuma Ommary dropped the ball after saving a short-range Sounders shot and
the Sounders striker pounced on the rebound, netting a fourth goal for the
home team. Tanzania’s Twiga Stars continued to press hard, and their
efforts paid off when striker Asha “Mwalala”
Rashid scored a header off Eto Mlenzi’s corner.
All in all it was a hard-fought and exciting match. At the beginning of the
match, Twiga Stars seemed out of sorts and uncertain on the cold, wet pitch,
and the Sounder ladies capitalized with excellent passing play and clinical
finishing. But the Twiga Stars fought hard and will return to Tanzania with
heads held high after managing to put away two great goals of their own.
The Twiga Stars are in Seattle playing friendly matches as preparation for
October’s African Women’s Championship, to be held in South Africa. The
Seattle Sounders play in the USL W-League, which is played in the USA yearly
from May to August. Though not professional, they are the top team in the
region, and have a mix of college players and top adult amateurs.
