FOLLOWING an arguably underwhelming showing in their opening 2025 AFCON qualifier against Ethiopia, the Taifa Stars pleasingly returned to winning ways in their second AFCON qualifier against Guinea a week ago.

Indeed, despite playing away from home, the Taifa Stars still splendidly demonstrated mental resolve, which helped them to secure a razor-thin 2-1 triumph.

Consequently, the Stars’ impressive win now means that they occupy 2nd place in Group H behind the DR Congo, who have a 100 percent record thus far after two games played.

As for the Taifa Stars, they now have four points from two games and one hopes that they can continue moving higher on their current upwards trajectory.

Admittedly, doing so will be difficult for our national football team as their next opponents are Group H’s table-toppers, the DR Congo.

Indeed, the Taifa Stars will lock horns with the DR Congo at the Stade des Martyrs stadium in Kinshasa on October 6 while the two teams will clash again on October 14 at the magnificent Benjamin Mkapa Stadium here in Dar es Salaam.

Significantly, it is not a falsehood to claim that our upcoming two consecutive battles against the DR Congo will impact greatly on our chances of qualifying for the 2025 AFCON Finals for better or worse.

That last point helps us to segue nicely now into Young Africans SC’s exertions on the continental football stage, which bore fruit last Saturday to the sheer exultation of their countless fans.

Playing against the Ethiopian side CBE on the latter’s home turf in the first leg of their CAF Champions League second round tie, Young Africans brilliantly earned a hard-fought 1-0 victory in what was undoubtedly a gripping contest.

Despite that triumph, though, it is absolutely crucial for Young Africans not to believe that they are already home and dry.

It should be borne in mind that football history is replete with stunning tales of courageous giant-killing feats, which means then that CBE’s prospects of victory cannot be entirely ruled out.

In light of this, one would like to exhort Young Africans not to underestimate their Ethiopian counterparts, who will be definitely going for the jugular in the second leg encounter.

Naturally, it is an incontrovertible fact that all Tanzanians will be fervently hoping that Young Africans can prove equal to the task of sending the Ethiopians packing in the high stakes second leg.

Let us remain with the football theme but alter our focus slightly to zero-in on local women’s football, which recently received a headline-grabbing, positive boost.

Indeed, the boost that I am alluding to here concerns the national women’s under-17 football team, which recently came out on top at the Union of North Africa Football (UNAF) Girls championship in Tunisia.

In what was a high-profile football competition that featured Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia, it was hugely encouraging to see that the Serengeti Girls were not deterred in the slightest by the fact that they were taking on such an elite trio of accomplished football-playing nations.

After turning in terrific displays against their North African opponents, the Serengeti Girls admirably finished the competition at the apex of the standings with an unmatched seven points, which saw them deservingly emerge as bona fide champions.

Thus, if the Serengeti Girls’ recent dazzling exploits at the UNAF Girls Championship are anything to go by, the future of local women’s football appears to be quite bright indeed.