TANZANIA’S Taifa Stars’ dreams of making it into the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals were shattered yesterday following a heartbreaking 2-0 defeat to group G leaders Egypt at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam.A brace from Egyptian professional Mohamed Salah guaranteed Egyptian Pharaohs a place to the 2017 AFCON Gabon finals. Egypt will return to the Africa Cup of Nations tournament for the first time since 2010.The Pharaohs – who have won a record seven Nations Cup titles – only needed to avoid a heavy defeat in their final Group G clash but they emphatically secured qualification with a clear win.
The defeat dashed Taifa Stars any hopes of reviving their dream of qualifying for the AFCON finals for the first time since 1980. It also confirmed Pharaohs superiority against Taifa Stars.
Certainly, it was an arduous task for Stars against a team they have never beaten, let alone drawn against. After a 3-0 loss in Cairo in the first leg match last June, Taifa Stars were eager for a sweet revenge.
Salah, was among the scorers in the Alexandria victory with other goals coming from Rami Rabia and Bassem Morsi and Stars failed to avenge the result on home soil, after the A.S Roma striker gave the visitors the lead a minute before the break.
Despite defeat, Stars had shown some hopes that they can have their revenge against the Pharaohs in the first half with some classic moves which led to the hundreds of supporters to cheer them up but they failed to turn the chances they had created into vitals goals.
The home team started convincingly and TP Mazembe striker Thomas Ulimwengu missed a chance to beat goalkeeper, El-Hadary who made his 142nd appearance for Egypt after a 19-month absence from the national team, when he shot just wide and high of the goal in the 28th minute.
A minute later El-Hadary pulled off a great save from Ulimwengu header to deny him a goal, then in the 31st minute Samatta went close to score but his shot was deflected by Ali Gabr, wrong-footing El-Hadary, but luckily to the visitors the shot trickled just inches wide of the post.
The Pharaohs came close in the 25th minute when Abdallah El-Said found an open Rami Rabia in the box, but he sent his effort wide off the post. Another chance for the visitors came from Mohamed El-Neny whose shot from distance missed the target. Salah successfully converted a free-kick past a poorlypositioned goalkeeper, Deogratius Munish, with the wall of defenders also at fault.
The free kick was awarded to Pharaohs by Gabonese referee Meye Bastrel after left back Mwinyi Haji, who looked to be out of form fouled Salam few inches outside the penalty area. Egypt would consider themselves lucky to lead at the break, given the mediocre performances from their midfielders and wingers.
To some extent, Stars had a good first 45 minutes in which they dominated and created a host of scoring opportunities, which however, went begging. Stars Juma Abdul and Pharaohs Trezeguet earned yellow card in the first half.
After the break, Stars who enjoyed the brunt of the possession ought to have pulled level after they were awarded a penalty in the 53rd minute after Himid Mao was brought down in the penalty box by Amr Mohsen.
However, Stars squandered the opportunity after captain Mbwana Samatta shot over the bar. After the penalty miss it took the visitors few minutes to double their lead through Salah, who dribbled past two defenders Mwinyi and Aggrey Morris before beat easily goalie Munishi in the 5th minute.
The former Chelsea man reacted quickly to a penetration pass from Mohamed El-Sayed. Hector Cuper’s instructions in the second half were clear: sit back and hit the hosts on the counter. It was a tactic which played dividends, when Salah raced clear to score his second goal of the match.
The remainder of the match was characterized by misplaced passes and awkward challenges, as the Pharaohs saw out a win that is crucial for their World Cup qualifying draw hopes.
In the second half, Stars Coach Charles Boniface Mkwasa brought in John Bocco, Mohamed Hussein and Deus Kaseke for Elias Maguli, Haji Mwinyi and Ulimwengu respectively but it was too late for them to rescue the sinking ship.
Tanzania has met Egyptians Pharaohs 11 times and Stars has drawn only once and lost all the remaining games. Egypt’s team have completed their qualifying campaign in three-team Group G, which will be wrapped up by the dead-rubber match between Taifa Stars and Nigeria in September.
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