Tanzania Coach: We Do Not Have Pros Like Our Opponents

Nigerian-born coach Emmanuel Amunike says his Tanzanian side do not have the professional players their AFCON group stage opponents boasts of.

The Taifa Stars are classed along with Senegal, Algeria and Kenya in Group C with their opening fixture being a tie with the Taranga Lions who boast of a litany of players.

And based on this, Amunike admits they’ve fallen in a tough group.

[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“We are in a difficult group, we do not have strong professional players like our opponents.”[/perfectpullquote]

“Tanzania has not played the African Cup for 39 years and this is a big event,” the former Barcelona skipper turned coach said.

On his general assessment of the forthcoming Cairo event, Emmanuel expects a thrilling encounter considering the big-name players involved.

“The competition will be very strong, because Africa currently has more than one world-class player, like Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané. The level of these two players has grown considerably, and there is also Riyad Mahrez who is one of the best attackers.”