Tanzania/Congo-Kinshasa: Tanzania's Serengeti Boys Line Up for Congo Scalp

Tanzania is all set for Congo and are hoping to bank on home advantage when they play host to the latter in the first leg of the third and final round of the qualifiers on Sunday in Dar es Salaam.

The Serengeti Boys booked their place at the final lap after overcoming South Africa 3-1 aggregate, and are now on the brink of a first ever qualification to the final tournament of the biennial cadet championship.

Ahead of the encounter with the Congolese, who saw off Namibia at the previous round, Tanzania coach Bakari Shime tells CAFOnline.com his side is well prepared for the task thanks to an eight-day training camp in Seychelles where psychological buildup was the main concentration.

"We are better than our opponents and they know it. The main thing for us is to get the boys to be psychologically fit for the clash. If we want to be the best, we have to beat the best," an enthusiastic Shime said after one of the team's training sessions earlier in the week.

"This time our form is unquestionable; we have beaten good teams like South Africa and we have to maintain it for the final games. For us, we approach every match with the same weight.

"If we win at home, it will be good to our chances but we want to win both legs," he noted.

Shime has a fair knowledge of the Congolese and has tasked his boys to capitalize on their opponent's mistakes to win the game.

"Football is a game of mistakes; we have followed our opponent and we know their strengths and weaknesses. That won't help us if we are on the best team on the day. We have to play good football to win," he said.

The Tanzanians will depend on striking trio Yohana Mkomola, Abdallah Mohammed and Makame Mukhsini in their quest for a convincing win to make the second leg a mere formality.

"We have trained on the final third to improve our scoring accuracy because if we want to win, we have to score goals. Our strikers are doing well and we are happy with it," said Shime.

Elsewhere in Luanda, surprise packets Comoros will seek to continue their fairytale run against Angola away in Luanda, whilst Niger, ousters of reigning world champions, Nigeria host Gabon in Niamey.

Senegal host Guinea in an all-West African affair at the Demba Diop Stadium in Dakar, whilst Ghana tackle western neighbours Cote d'Ivoire at the newly found home in Cape Coast.

In Bamako, Mali will face a stern test in Ethiopia whilst Sudan lock horns with Cameroon in El Obeid, over 400 kilometres from the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.

The second leg matches will take place in a fortnight, and the seven winners will join host Madagascar for the final tournament fixed for 2-16 April 2017.

Fixtures

Saturday, 17 September 2016

Niger vs Gabon

Senegal vs Guinea

Angola vs Comoros

Sunday, 18 September 2016

Ghana vs Cote d'Ivoire

Mali vs Ethiopia

Sudan vs Cameroon

Tanzania vs Congo