THE national soccer team, Taifa Stars, kicks off their 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifying campaign against multiple champion and hosts Egypt ‘Pharaohs’ today at Alexandria’s 86,000-seater Borg El-Arab Stadium.

THE national soccer team, Taifa Stars, kicks off their 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifying campaign against multiple champion and hosts Egypt ‘Pharaohs’ today at Alexandria’s 86,000-seater Borg El-Arab Stadium.

Taifa Stars, who pitched camp in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for about a week in readiness of the match, arrived in Alexandria on Friday.They will be targeting a good start in the campaign as they struggled to qualify for Africa’s biggest football showpiece, which has eluded them since 1980.

According to the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF), Media and Communication Officer, Baraka Kizuguto, the team is ready to face the Pharaohs and the players are in high morale and optimistic they are capable of stunning their hosts.

Ahead of their Group G date with the Pharaohs, Stars Dutch coach, Mart Nooij said he is not intimidated by the mighty seven times African champions.

Speaking on what is apparently an arduous game against the North African giants, Nooij said his team was going to put in a brave fight in search of a positive result and urged his players to make good use of the scoring chances.

“I know that it’s an away game, I have trained my players who will be playing in attacking positions to make good use of opportunities that will come our way during the game,” the Dutchman said.

Taifa Stars will enter the game against Egypt, seven-time African champions, as underdogs but Nooij remains optimistic, insisting nothing is impossible in football.

He said the one-week training camp was ideal for him to prepare his charges and the players were able to build chemistry, so he is looking forward to a strong performance when they launch their AFCON campaign on Sunday.

Nooij favours a fast passing game and he has been imparting this playing philosophy to his players during their training sessions.

The Dutchman said he was delighted with the way the players understood and responded to his instructions. While a solid defensive performance will be required on Sunday if the Stars take any positive result against the Egyptians, the team’s striking force needs to improve remarkably after a dreadful show in this year’s COSAFA Cup in which they failed to score a single goal in three games that ended in defeats.

Nooij will bank his hopes on his key striking duo of Mbwana Samatta and Thomas Ulimwengu, who missed the COSAFA Cup staged in South Africa last month. The TP Mazembe pair have established themselves an integral part of the team and proved to be reliable sources of goals for the Stars in recent years.

The return of several other key players, including skipper Nadir Haroub, Salum Telela and Frank Domayo, is also expected to inspire the side ahead of the crucial date against Egypt.

The trio were among regular players who could not travel with the team to South Africa due to injury. Nooij revealed that all 22 players in the camp are in superb condition and raring to go.

Stars squad has been boosted by the arrival of attacking midfielder Amri Kiemba. The former Simba star has replaced Mrisho Ngasa, who failed to join the rest of the team in Egypt for personal issues.

The Deputy Minister for Information, Youth, Culture and Sports, Juma Nkamia is already in Alexandria to support the team in today’s match, which will kick off at 8 pm East African time.

Taifa Stars, who last qualified for the AFCON finals back in 1980, have been drawn in Group G of the 2017 qualifiers along with Egypt, Nigeria and Chad. Egypt’s new Argentina-born coach Hector Cuper insists he will not underestimate the east Africans, whose build-up included losses to Swaziland, Madagascar, Lesotho and Rwanda.

“I respect all our opponents equally and my aim is book the automatic place for the finals,” said the handler who took Valencia to two unsuccessful Champions League finals appearances.

Cuper has been quoted saying that no one is guaranteed a regular place in Egypt’s squad and expressed his hope that the national team would be able to enjoy the support of home fans soon as today’s match is expected to be held in closed doors.

“There are no exceptional players who can be ever-present in Egypt’s squad,” Cuper, who helped Spanish side Valencia reach the UEFA Champions League final in 2001, told a news conference on Friday.

“We don’t have Lionel Messi or Sergio Aguero. We can call up any player and we can exclude any player, it all depends on who can apply my strategy on the pitch.”

Egypt will miss Hull City’s injured winger Ahmed Elmohamady, Ismaily’s midfielder Amr El-Sulaya, who is targeted by Cairo duo Ahly and Zamalek and ENPPI forwards Salah Ashour and Mahmoud Kaoud.

Football matches in Egypt are held behind closed doors after a decision to gradually allow fans back to the stands backfired when 20 supporters died in a stampede after being tear-gassed by security forces before a league game between Zamalek and ENPPI. One supporter succumbed to his injuries in a Cairo hospital a few days later.