Missing the African nations Cup berth for 32 years can no longer be tolerated by any dimension.
Tanzania national soccer team took less than two decades to win the qualification into the continent’s most prestigious championships in 1980.
Since then the soccer team has been performing poorly for various reasons, regardless of the prevailing circumstances.
When the team qualified for the finals in Nigeria in 1980, the economic situation was by far worse than today. Tanzania had just come from a war in Uganda that cost the country billions.
At a time when the soccer team has all the resources at its disposal through corporate sponsorship, its performance has left a lot to be desired – not matching with the level of support given.
The Tanzania Football federation and the National Sports Council must devise a way towards a permanent solution to this endless ‘epidemic’.
The Government has been highly supportive by footing some bills of the team including remuneration of the coach, but the team under the soccer federation has failed to deliver.
Agonising as it seems, football failures happen to hit every household as well as people of every age and gender.
What then has gone wrong with the team that is enjoying top class hospitality in terms of welfare? The biennial championship has been elusive in terms of winning the qualifier berth for 16 times since we made it to Lagos in 1980.
The football federation must devise a way out of this enigma as we have what it takes to cruise into the qualifier berth.
Despite crumbling in the economy, there are countries in the continent with severe conditions but happen to make it to the football’s high profile stage.
Time has come for the football federation to work out a plan that would work to mould our national soccer team into a wining outfit.
For the past three qualifiers Tanzania has been grouped with teams that were not strong enough to compete against.
Gone are days when teams have been playing soccer basing on their historic background and this is the reason the next finals in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon will be missing ‘big guns’ in the likes of Cameroon, Nigeria and Egypt to mention a few.
Taifa Stars, as the name for the national team of Tanzania goes, had thrown overboard glorious opportunities to win the qualifier berth this time around after failing to beat visiting Algeria and Morocco.
It was the six points that counted for the two losses to Morocco that made all the difference as Stars trailed in the group.
Stars must learn to make full use of home ground advantage to post victories and that is the way forward.
Football fans in Tanzania have been severely hurt by missing the African Nations Cup finals though there is no tangible evidence as only their hearts were broken.
After turning up at the state of the art National Stadium to cheer Stars against Morocco and Central Africa Republic, fans have been left at crossroads without actually knowing the reason for the colossal football failure.
