Uganda and Tanzania Women National Teams will face off this Friday at MTN-Omondi Stadium in an international friendly game.
Both the Crested Cranes and Twiga Stars are preparing for their respective Women’s Olympic Football Tournament Qualifiers.
On Thursday, coaches and captains from either team addressed the media at FUFA Complex ahead of tomorrow’s game and below are the quotes;
Crested Cranes
Ayub Khalifa Kiyingi – Assistant Coach
“We are ready for this game and fully aware of how important it is in our preparations. Having a game of such magnitude against a very good team definitely helps us to know where we stand and what we need to improve before facing Rwanda.”
“Tanzania has always been a tough opponent for us over the years and Iam sure they will give us a good test.”
On playing two games against Rwanda in Rwanda…….
“It is a situation we find ourselves in as a country but does not mean we should not prepare. We shall go into both games with the same spirit in order to attain our target of progressing to the next round.”
On the progress of training so far……
“We have been in camp since Thursday last week and the preparations are going according to schedule. The first target was to get players into shape since majority were coming from off season. There has been improvement in their fitness levels and we hope more can be achieved in the remaining games.”
Ruth Aturo – Crested Cranes captain
“As players, we are ready for the game against Tanzania tomorrow. This is definitely a good chance for us to play a friendly game before facing Rwanda because it helps us to know where to improve.”
“Tanzania is a good team with talented players. We have faced them in CECAFA and other engagements and I know we will have a good game.”
Tanzania
Bakari Shime- Twiga Stars Head coach
“We are happy to be in Uganda and most importantly to play against the Crested Cranes. We believe this is a great test as we prepare for our upcoming games. Congo who we were supposed to play against in the Olympic Qualifiers withdrew but that doesn’t mean we should not prepare. We thought the game against Uganda will be a good test as we shift focus to the second qualification round.”
Enekia Kasonga Lunyamila- Twiga Stars captain
“Games between Uganda and Tanzania have never been easy over the years. And that is what we expect tomorrow. We know Uganda is a good team but we are ready to face them and hope for the best results.”
Uganda will host Rwanda in the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament Qualifiers on 12th July at Kigali Pele Stadium before the two teams face off five days later.
The winner on aggregate will face Cameroon at the second qualification round.
