TZW
It was one of the two build up matches for Heroes in readiness for the Afcon U-20 encounter against Democratic Republic of Congo on March 31 in Dar es Salaam. Heroes scored their winning goal in the second half that remained until the end of the thrilling game.
Prime Minister, Kassim Majaliwa, who was the Chief Guest watched to his delight how both teams played highskilled and disciplined game. It was also the first victory for the team’s Head Coach, Ammy Ninje, whose debut as Kilimanjaro Stars in the CECAFA Senior Challenge, was not fruitful.
Ngorongoro Heroes will face Mozambique U-20 in their second build up match to be held at the same venue on Wednesday. Today, the Moroccan youth will play their second game against Mozambique at the same venue.
The match started slowly as each team was trying to figure out the workable game plan to use and contain the opponent side with much action being seen at the midfield department. It was a good test match for the U-20 boys as they prepare to face Democratic of Congo in the qualifying match of the U-20 Africa Cup of the Nations slated on March 31 at the National Stadium Dar es Salaam with the returning leg expected to be played two weeks later in DR Congo’s capital Kinshasa.
However, despite having many scoring chances, still no team managed to break through until the end of the first half. At resumption, Heroes came in a rejuvenated side as they began to play open attacking football, giving the visitors hard time to contain them.
In the 58th minute of the second half, Kibwana Shomary had a good strike on the target but, it was easily grabbed by Moroccan keeper Laafsa Zyad to deny the hosts an opener.
A few minutes later, in the 61st minute, Heroes were awarded a penalty after a Moroccan defender was penalised for handing the ball inside the danger zone. Mukhsin Makame stepped in and scored the winner for Ngorongoro Heroes, sending the home crowd into deafening cheers. The goal gave Heroes a fighting spirit as they continued to race towards Moroccan territory purposely to score the second goal, but the visitors defenders played well to deny the goal-hungry Heroes from inflicting them more pains.
The Morocco Boys missed a golden scoring chance in the 78th minute when Abissi Abderrazak had a good run into the Heroes penalty box and was exposed to a one on one play, with Heroes custodian Aboutwalib Mshery, who was forced to make an acrobatic save for a fruitless corner. As the final whistle sounded to end the sparkling match, it was the Heroes who marched out of the pitch with wide smiles.
Speaking after the match, Heroes coach Ammy Ninje lauded his players for the commendable job and promised Tanzanians to give them the better results in the coming matches. “It was a good game and our opponents (Morocco) gave us the perfect test. The chemistry worked better, but still there is a room for improvement on the weaknesses which emerged,” he said.