Tanzania, Lesotho share spoils

Lesotho had a cause to cheer after forcing Tanzania to a 1-1 draw in Dar es Salaam in a Group L opener on Saturday.

Captain Mbwana Samatta gave Tanzania the lead from a free kick on 27 minutes, but the goal will last for only seven minutes before Thapelo Tale equalized for the visitors.

Tanzania were in control of the game, building its attacks from the flanks and within the first 20 minutes they missed two clear chances through their Samatta and Thomas Ulimwengu, now on the books of Swedish side, AFC Eskilstuna.

The visitors responded on the counter and Tanzania shot-stopper, Aishi Manula had to use extra effort to save Jane Thaba-Nsto’s shot on 13th minute.

After Samatta’s goal for the homers, the game changed as Lesotho matched Tanzania’s style and managed to secure a dramatic equalizer on the 34 minutes capitalizing on a blunder by the Taifa Stars rear.

On the lapse of first half, Ntso failed to make the most on a wrecked Tanzania defence to net the winner for the visitors.

With Lesotho resorting to a defensive style, Tanzania controlled the second half but Samaata, Saimon Msuva and Ulimwengu all had shots at goal going wide.

Taifa Stars coach, Salum Mayanga introduced Salum Aboubakar, Farid Mussa and Mbaraka Yusuf for Mzamiru Yassin, Msuva and Ulimwengu but it could change nothing as they had to share honours with “Likuena”.

Reactions

Salum Mayanga (Head Coach, Tanzania)

It was a bad game for us. We wanted to win and take maximum points from Lesotho but things went contrary. We played well in the first half but we made mistake and allowed them to score the equalizer. On the second half, almost every Lesotho player was behind the ball and it made it difficult for us to score. We take this as a challenge and will fight to win the next games.

Moses Maliehe (Head Coach, Lesotho)

I am happy that we managed to secure a point away though it was not easy. In the group, every team has a chance to qualify. Our target was the maximum points away from home, but a point is not bad. I believe we will play well in the remaining fixtures to give ourselves a good chance to qualify.

---

Fixtures

Group A

9.06.2017      Obeid            Sudan 1-3 Madagascar

10.06.2017    Dakar            Senegal 3-0 Equatorial Guinea

Group B

10.06.2017    Yaounde        Cameroon 1-0 Morocco

10.06.2017    Lilongwe        Malawi 1-0 Comoros

Group C

10.06.2017    Bamako         Mali 2-1 Gabon

10.06.2017    Bujumbura    Burundi 3-1 South Sudan

Group D

11.06.2017    Blida              Algeria vs Togo

11.06.2017    Cotonou         Benin vs Gambia

Group E

9.06.2017      Cairo             Libya 5-1 Seychelles

10.06.2017    Uyo               Nigeria 0-2 South Africa

Group F

10.06.2017    Freetown       Sierra Leone 2-1 Kenya

11.06.2017    Kumasi          Ghana vs Ethiopia

Group G

10.06.2017    Kinshasa        DR Congo 3-1 Congo

11.06.2017    Harare           Zimbabwe vs Liberia

Group H

10.06.2017    Bouake          Cote d’Ivoire 2-3 Guinea

11.06.2017    Bangui           Central African Rep. vs Rwanda

Group I

10.06.2017    Ouagadougou Burkina Faso 3-1 Angola

10.06.2017    Francistown   Botswana 0-1 Mauritania

Group J

10.06.2017    Niamey          Niger 0-0 Swaziland

11.06.2017    Tunis             Tunisia vs Egypt

Group K

10.06.2017    Ndola            Zambia 0-1 Mozambique

10.06.2017    Bissau           Guinea Bissau 1-0 Namibia

Group L

10.06.2017    Dar es Salaam          Tanzania 1-1 Lesotho

11.06.2017    Praia                        Cape Verde vs Uganda