MOROCCO: TAIFA Stars defeated Egyptian club Halas El Ho- dood SC 1-0 in an international friendly ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON 2025), which kicks off on Sunday in Morocco.
The only goal of the match came from Morice Abraham, giving the Tanzanian side a morale-boosting victory in their final warm-up fixture.
After the match, the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) Information Officer, Clifford Ndimbo echoed the coach’s optimism, saying the result reflected high morale among the players ahead of the continental showpiece.
“TFF is working closely with the technical bench to ensure Taifa Stars perform well in the tournament and progress beyond the group stage, similar to our run in the 2024 CHAN, where we reached the quarter-finals,” Ndimbo said.
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In a further development, Gamondi has added striker Selemani Mwalimu to the 28-man squad for AFCON 2025, replacing Abdul Suleiman, who was forced to withdraw due to injury during the team’s training camp in Cairo, Egypt.
A TFF statement confirmed the change: “Coach Miguel Gamondi has called up striker Selemani Mwalimu to the 28-man Taifa Stars squad for AFCON 2025 Morocco, replacing Abdul Suleiman ‘Sopu’, who is injured.” Taifa Stars have been drawn in Group C alongside Nigeria, Tunisia and Uganda.
The team is currently training in Egypt before travelling to Morocco, marking their fourth AFCON appearance following 1980, 2019 and 2023.
Their group matches begin against Nigeria on December 23, followed by a clash with Uganda on 27 December and conclude against Tunisia on December 30.