Stars triumph

Mrisho Ngasa’s second half goal separated Taifa Stars and visiting Palestine national soccer team in a friendly international played at the national Stadium in dare s salaam yesterday.

Stars who were expected to have a goal feast against the 178th ranked team in the world, found the tide was up to their nose.

Misfiring and inept shooting counted more to the home side despite conducive atmosphere that prevailed throughout the match.

The match kicked off at a cracking pace with the home side looking intent to excel after Palestinian goalkeeper Abdallah Alsidawi was forced to parry Musa Hassan’s attempt into safety early on.

Three minutes later, Ramadhani Chombo dissected the Palestinian defence only for striker Mrisho Ngassa to miss his goal-bound tailor made pass.

The visitors reacted strongly after 16 minutes when defender Shatrit released a blockbuster that was expertly saved by Stars’ goalkeeper Shaaban Kado.

Stars would have broken the stalemate midway into the first half only for Aggrey Morris to head wide while Palestinian goalkeeper was well beaten. The teams progressed into the dressing rooms while deadlocked.

Both coaches made full use of unlimited substitutions with Poulsen opting for Mohamed Banka who replaced Ramadhan Chombo who was making his debut appearance.

Banka made an instant impact when he combined well with Mrisho Ngasa who rounded off Palestine defending duo to break the deadlock 17 minutes after resumption.

Ngasa was instantly substituted soon after his goal as coach Jan Poulsen opted for Julius Mrope who was also earning his first cap for the home side.

Coach Poulsen introduced Mbwana Samata who combined well upfront to keep the visitors’ defence busy. Near misses continued for both sides up to the end of the game.

Line-ups:

Taifa Stars:

Shaaban Kado, Shadrack Nsajigwa/Haruna Shamte, Juma Jabu, Aggrey Morris, Nadir Haroub, Shaaban Nditi, Jabir Aziz, Ramadhani Chombo/Mohamed Banka, Mussa Hassan/Geoffrey Bonny, John Bocco/Mbwana Samata, Mrisho Ngasa/Julius Mrope.

Palestine:

Abdallah Alsidawi, Samee Amin, Abdullatif Salbahdari, Jarun Belal, Shatrit Ali, Ahmed Mahajna, Khadar Abuhammad, Hisham Salhi, Atef Abubelal, Ahmed Keshkesh, Fahed Attal.