Tanzania left frustrated in Dar es Salaam

Jonas Geraid Maude of Tanzania block Ahmed Musa of Nigeria to the ball during the 2017 AFCON Qualifier match between Nigeria vs Tanzania on September, 3rd 2017 at Godswill Akpabio Stadium ©Kabiru Abubakar//Backpagepix

by Bertin Basson

Saturday Jun 10, 2017. 21:29

Tanzania were left frustrated in Dar es Salaam as they failed to defeat Lesotho in their opening game of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers at their National Stadium.

The minnows from Southern Africa holding their nerve to grind out a 1-1 draw in East Africa, as the Taifa Stars suffered an early blow in their quest to return to the continents premier cup competition.

Paired in Group L alongside Uganda and struggling Cape Verde, Tanzania would have fancied their chances ahead of the campaign, but their dreams have suffered a cruel reality check.

Likuena have never in their history qualified for an AFCON Tournament, but they showed great character to draw level in the 35th minute from Thapelo Tale's boot.

The impressive Belgium-based Mbwana Samatta, who captains Tanzania at the age of 24, opened the scoring after 28 minutes.

Samatta, though, was unable to lead his team to victory as they game ended all square despite relentless pressure from the hosts in the second stanza.