Tanzania: Nation Hails Kili Queens Feat

Photo: Aminah Babirye/Daily Monitor

Tanzania women celebrate with the trophy after victory over Kenya gave them the regional title.

Delighted Tanzanians commended Kilimanjaro Queens victory in the just ended CECAFA Women Championship in Uganda, calling it an inspirational sky-high leap success of the women's football.

The Minister for Information, Culture, Arts and Sports, Nape Nnauye, is one of the Tanzanians delighted with the victory while the team's head, Amina Karuma was hopeful the Cecafa victory will change the face of the beautiful game in the country.

Nape commended Kili Queens for their feat at the regional meet while Karuma, the chairperson of Tanzania Women Football Association (TWFA), lauded the players for their hard work, commitment and positive attitude despite the challenges they faced in trying to assemble the team and preparing for this tournament.

"This trophy means a lot to women's football in Tanzania. This gives us strength and hopes that our football is progressing now," she said after her side defeated tournament favourites Kenya 2-1 in the final on Tuesday.

Kilimanjaro Queens players made a stop in Bukoba to pay homage to the victims of Earthquakes that ravaged many areas across Kagera Region a few hours after the team departed to Uganda after their 2-0 win over Burundi in their last buildup on September 8.

Kilimanjaro Queens' gallant performance also impressed the country's President John Magufuli who lauded the Queens for writing a new chapter in Tanzania's football history. Magufuli said in his congratulation ready on his behalf by the Minister for Information, Culture, Arts and Sports, Nape Nnauye, that victory is inspiring and motivates other Tanzanians to perform well in the international competitions.

"Please convey my sincere felicitation to Kilimanjaro Queens players, Tanzania Football Federations (TFF), team coaches and officials for their contributions in the historic victory.

I am delighted with the feat and urge Kilimanjaro Queens players to take the victory as an opening move towards winning bigger and tougher events later on," said the President Magufuli.

The president called for the team's countrywide support which he said would motivate players to aim higher. Yesterday, the team presented the trophy to Kagera Regional Commissioner, Major General (Retired) Salim Kijuu.

Tanzanian team travelled by bus from Dar es Salaam to Jinja where they were residing for the regional tournament, an estimated distance of 1,400km one way but stopped over for a friendly game against Burundi which they won 2-0 in the northern part of the country in Bukoba, 81km from the Mutukula border of Uganda.

Signs of fatigue in their opening match against Rwanda were visible but captain Sophia Mwasikili admitted that her side chose to focus on the task at hand and indeed they won the tie 3-2 after scoring two own goals.

The Kilimanjaro Queens have competed at the Africa Women's Cup of Nations once and that was back in 2010 in South Africa but Karuma wants to aim for a place on the international level and believes that with more support her youthful side can achieve their new target. Karuma said: "We are going to prepare ourselves now because we want to register to take part in many international competitions including the Fifa 2019 World Cup and Tokyo 2020 Olympic qualifiers."

According to Karuma, the Tanzania Football Federation has organised the first ever women's league that will get underway on October 4 in Dar es Salaam. "We hope that it will be good," she said. With regular competition, Karuma believes this will spur on her team to even greater heights to compete with the best sides on the tournament.

In retrospect, the Kilimanjaro Queens forward Mwanahamisi Omari revealed ability to capitalise on the opponents' weakness as the secret behind their victories. Omari, who played a key role in the Queens' victory, providing a cutting edge and troubling defences, has shone a light on the quality of football at the tournament. "It has been a very tough and closely contested tournament.

Every game was about margins and for us, the journey to the final was about making the most of our chances when our opponents made mistakes," the contented Omari told supersport. com.

Tanzania edged an equally good Rwanda side 3-2 in their opening encounter last Monday before settling for a goalless draw against Ethiopia in their last Group B tie. Against the Uganda Crested Cranes in the semifinal, Tanzania cruised to the final following a stellar performance in a 4-1 victory and against the Kenya Harambee Starlets, they faced their biggest test.

Omari admitted that to emerge victorious, her side knew that they would need to maintain the level of concentration throughout the game because Kenya is a tactically sound side.

"Kenya is a good team and that is why they are going to the Africa Women's Cup of Nations, but football is about taking advantage of mistakes made by your opponent and that is what we did today. When we got a chance, we utilised our chance," she said.

Adding, the team's skipper Asha Rashid further added: "We thank God for this win because it was not an easy game. We played very well in the first half but in the second half they came with a lot of determination." Tanzania competed at the 2010 edition in South Africa.