The head coach of the Serengeti Girls of Tanzania, Bakari Shime has made it clear that his team has what it takes to progress to the later stages at the on-going FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in India.
Serengeti Girls who are making their debut in the competition have qualified for the quarter final stage where they will face Colombia on October 22nd.
To reach the knockout stage Tanzania kicked off with a 4-0 defeat to Japan, stopped France 2-1 and held Canada 1-1 in Group D matches.
“We started the tournament with a poor result, but the players have continued to improve and gain confidence. I have trust in my players to go out and keep working hard to get the best result against Colombia at the quarter final stage,” said Shime.
The coach also made it clear that his players have to become very cautious because they have already picked two red cards in three matches. “We have got to a knock out stage where we must be at our best and reduce on the mistakes,” explained the coach.
Wallace Karia, the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) President who is also President of the Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) has also praised the Serengeti Girls for the hard work. “It is through hard work and determination that the team has made it to the next stage,” said Karia.
While Nigeria are the other African representatives that have qualified for the quarter final stage, Morocco failed to make it out of the group stage.
While Tanzania will face Colombia in a quarter final tie on October 22nd, Japan will take on Spain the same day. Nigeria will line-up against USA and Germany face Brazil in the other quarter final matches to be played on October 21st.
