Amrouche set to restore Taifa Stars’ 2023 AFCON finals hopes

07Mar 2023
Nassir Nchimbi
Sport
The Guardian
Amrouche set to restore Taifa Stars’ 2023 AFCON finals hopes

TANZANIA Football Federation (TFF) has hired former Algeria international, Adel Amrouche, as the new head coach for the country's senior national football team 'Taifa Stars'.

Taifa Stars' new head coach Adel Amrouche .

In a letter signed by the federation’s information officer Clifford Ndimbo, Amrouche’s record has been sighted as having the needed qualification.

The federation stated in the statement: "The tactician has, among others, an impeccable career that includes guiding Kenya to their CECAFA Challenge Cup win and having gone for 20 matches without a loss.”

Amrouche, the holder of a UEFA Pro license, will be paid by the Tanzanian government, the federation said.

With pressure being the word to describe any coach taking Taifa Stars' job, Amrouche will debut his duties on the occasion of Taifa Stars' match against Uganda, slated for March 24 at the Suez Stadium in Ismailia.

It will be match day three day on Group J of the qualifiers for the 2023 African Cup of Nations finals.

Tanzania currently occupies third place in Group J with a point along with Uganda, Algeria leads the rest with six points followed by Niger with two points.

The 58-year-old Belgian of Algerian descent also previously managed Burundi, Equatorial Guinea, Botswana, Libya, and Yemen.

Initial reports had indicated Yanga’s tactician, Nasreddine Mohamed Nabi, was lined up for the appointment.

The federation however went ahead to make an unexpected pick, announcing Amrouche to be the best fit.

Amrouche fell out with the Football Kenya Federation officials in 2014 because of poor performance shown by the country's national team 'Harambee Stars', especially in African Cup of Nations qualifiers' fixtures against Lesotho.

The results saw Kenya miss out on the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations tournament.

At the time of playing Lesotho, Amrouche was serving a one-year ban imposed by CAF following the alleged indecent assault of the match officials during Kenya’s second leg of the first preliminary round match against Comoros.

He later sued Kenya for wrongful dismissal and demanded to be paid Ksh 108 million.

Tanzania did not have a head coach since the end of last year after the then Taifa Stars interim head coach, Zambian Honour Janza, left for a Technical Director job at Zesco United in his home country.

Janza had taken the reigns of Danish gaffer Kim Poulsen who was handed Tanzania's national junior squads.

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