Tanzania’s Tanzanite Queens face a must-win clash against Canada on September 11 as they fight to keep their hopes of advancing at the Women’s World Cup alive.
The Tanzanian side has endured a difficult start to the tournament in Poland, losing both of its opening Group-stage matches.
Tanzanite Queens began their campaign with a 4-1 defeat to Brazil before suffering another heavy loss, going down 5-1 to England on September 8.
With no points from their opening two matches, Tanzania now needs victory against Canada to give itself a chance of progressing to the next stage.
Head coach Bakari Shime, however, believes the team can still turn its fortunes around, saying a win over Canada could open the door to qualification.
Canada currently has one point, meaning Tanzania's final Group-stage match could prove decisive in determining the teams' chances of progressing.
Shime said the team would use its remaining training sessions to correct mistakes exposed in the first two matches, particularly defensive weaknesses on the right flank.
“We will return to training and work on the mistakes we made in the first two matches, especially on the right side, which has given our opponents opportunities,” Shime said.
Despite the two defeats, Shime said he had seen significant improvement against England, compared with the opening match against Brazil.
“Despite losing the matches, I am satisfied with the team’s performance because we improved in the second game compared with the first, when we failed to follow instructions and fear affected our performance,” he said.
The coach also pointed to the team's attacking improvement against England.
Tanzanite Queens made nine attempts from 15 attacking efforts against England, a significant improvement from the two attempts they managed against Brazil.
The challenge now is to turn that improvement into a result when they face Canada.
A victory would take Tanzania to three points and strengthen its chances of qualifying through the four best third-placed teams from the different groups.
However, the team will also have to keep an eye on results elsewhere, as its final position will depend not only on the outcome against Canada but also on how other teams perform in their respective groups.
For Shime and his players, the equation is simple: beat Canada and keep the dream alive.