Celebrating Taifa Stars

By: @Zamaradi_M

Celebrating Taifa Stars

I will start with a confession. I love football. I watch and follow Manchester United to the extent that I am hanging somewhere between supporting the club and being obsessed!

As for the Tanzanian Premier League, I have claimed  to support Azam FC for three years now and the closest I have come to really support the club is following them on Twitter and getting a jersey from a friend who had an extra one!

And for Taifa Stars, it is a little less embarrassing but still a shame. I remember watching Taifa Stars vs Mozambique, the first ever match we played at the brand new world class Uwanja Wa Taifa. We lost by one and someone was peeling onions next to me which was the reason for the tears in my eyes that day.

Since then I have watched ALL of Stars home matches until somewhere in 2010. (Thanks to NMB for the VIP tickets to NMB Brand Ambassadors between late 2008 and 2010.)

Last time I watched Taifa Stars; Ngassa was the ish, Kaseja was 'banned' from the national team and Maximo couldn't pronounce Nsajigwa. And now Kaseja is the Captain, Maximo is gone and almost forgotten, Poulsen is the boss and there is Samatta and Ulimwengu, who until this morning I didn't even know how they look like.

So, before you think I am judging you, think again.

Sunday, 24^th March 2013. Taifa Stars beat the Morocco by 3 – 1 in the 2014 World Cup Qualifiers in which we are just a point behind the Ivory Coast and 4 above the Morocco. And before that we won against Kenya, Zambia and Cameroon.

We had some positive and negative reactions, and believe it or not some of those negatives were coming from fellow Tanzanians!

I am a dreamer, a believer and yet I am not blind to the obvious. So, in all fairness Taifa Stars might or might not make it to Brazil in 2014. We don't know anything for sure yet, but why waste time and energy worrying instead of celebrating what we have now?

Why are we so negative about our very own national team? What is our excuse for not supporting Taifa Stars by 110%?

Some say it is because they lack consistence. And same people have been supporting Arsenal and Liverpool, season in season out! Some say players are not united as a team. And same people have been supporting Real Madrid! Some say they do not respect the coaches. And same people are supporting Chelsea! Truth is, we do not have any valid reasons to not support Stars.

If we all get behind Stars and support them with all we have, they will definitely get far. How would they be divided within the team if we scream and cheer their names in one voice? How could millions of Tanzanians fail to unite 20+ players?

Let us support them even more than we support the European Clubs we are so crazy about. 

The same support we showed Luis Suarez and John Terry even when they were found guilty of racially abusing Patrice Evra and Anton Ferdinand.

The same support we showed as we booed and abused Super Roy Keane when he gave HIS opinion that Luis Nani's card was well deserved. That opinion was actually a fact proven by UEFA.

The same support we show towards Lionel Messi and call him Messiah even when he angrily kicks the ball to Real Madrid's supporters and injure one.

The same support we show towards Pepe even when everybody calls him The Assassin and have video clips to prove that he is,well at least an assassin in a football world.

We support European clubs blindly, why can't we do the same for  OUR Taifa Stars?

Most of us probably don't understand the power of supporters in a football match. Why do you think players say away matches are the hardest? Why do we have a home advantage? Why do away goals matter even in big competition like the UEFA Champions League? The pitch is of the same size, playing against eleven men as usual, the only difference is those millions encouraging their home side while discouraging the visitors. That's the difference.

Do you know why supporters are referred to as the 12^th man? It's because our support from the stands is as good as being the 12^th man in that pitch.

Fans have a big impact on the results. Big clubs such as Bayern Munich, Liverpool, PSG, AC Milan, Lazio, Portsmouth, CSKA Moscow know that and that is why they retired Number 12 for their fans.

It's even proven that the noise from the fans can impact the referees decision and for every 10,000 fans in the stadium, a team increases their goal advantage by 10%.

We have away game to Morocco then we host Ivory Coast on 14^th June. I say, we as fans play our part by making use of all 60,000 seats (we can spare a few for Ivorians). If 10,000 fans is 10 percent lets make our 58% contribution and leave the 42% to the players.

So, are we going to proudly put our Taifa Stars jerseys and be the 12^th man on the stands or sit and complain and worry about what was, what might or might not happen? Are you going to scold us who have not been 110% behind Stars till this late? We can do that and gain nothing, or we can come together as a country and do our best.

They say that we have made a statement by beating Zambia, Cameroon and Morocco. We have proven to be competitors and not participants by being rivals to Ivory Coast when everybody was betting against us. And now every team coming to Tanzania will take us seriously, no reserves. They will bring the best they have. And we say; We are ready for you, Bring it on.

Let us enjoy this journey, one game at a time. So, until June 7^th Tanzania is celebrating a massive win against Morocco.

And for ToT, let's trend #TzBrazil2014

PS: For some serious motivation.

Cesc for Arsenal

 By: @Zamaradi_M

 I strongly believe, in my heart of hearts that Cesc was better off with Arsenal. And before you go screaming and get all 'Cataluna' on me please know that I am NOT an Arsenal fan and never will be. I am just an unbiased observer with so much love for good and exciting football. And a big Francesc 'Cesc' Fabregas Soler fan.

So, here are my reasons why Cesc was better off with Arsenal. 

NOTE:  I am trying so hard not to use 'should have stayed' or 'should move back'.

Arsenal Victims

Or they sometimes refer to themselves as Arsenal fans. We will get to why they are Arsenal victims in another post. Arsenal victims adored Cesc, they still do. They worship the guy. The amount of love and respect he was getting at Arsenal, he will never get that anywhere else, ever! Even now, two good years after his departure Arsenal fans still follow him, defend him when Barca fans say he is sh*t! They have no obligation to do that, but they will, even ten years from now. Because of the support of these extremely loyal millions of millions of victims all over the world, he was better off at Arsenal.

Arsene Wenger

Cesc can have all the coaches in the world, but Wenger was his coach. You know us stupid people believe that there is that one person who was brought into this world just for us? Like they are meant for us and us alone? Then, Wenger was a coach brought into this world for Cesc and Cesc was meant to be with Wenger. I am still rooting for this 'love' story. No Homo!

El Capitán

Before I go into this point, a shout out to all Arsenal victims who learned the meaning and spelling of this Spanish word just so they could make their Captain feel at home.

El Capitán, if you don't know is a Spanish word which means The Captain. Emirates was decorated with this word when Cesc was playing there. Cesc was made a captain at Arsenal when he was only 21. Yes, he was a captain for Spain U17 but being a captain at a big club like Arsenal at the age of 21, that's something else aisee! One of the top four clubs in England don't make you the captain at 21 and you leave at 23. You just DON’T!!

Emirates vs. Camp Nou

One of the biggest believed reasons for Cesc’s departure was that Camp Nou is home to him. He was raised there so it’s only understandable that he has to go back HOME. I strongly disagree! Cesc started at Cam Nou at age 10 and he was training with La Masia only once per week. He joined on a permanent basis at age 12 and left for Arsenal when he was 16.

From day one at Arsenal Cesc was training with the first team and made his senior team debut at 16. He then played as a regular for the first team for half of his debut season. Cesc played for Arsenal for 8 years before going back to Camp Nou.

So, why would home be where one spent two part time years and four full time years instead of where he spent eight FULL time years?

 Bench vs. Mr. Arsenal

Not to be too dramatic, but Cesc was The Arsenal. You know, like Giggs is for Manchester United, Gerrard for Liverpool, and Casillas for Real Madrid. It’s like the flag of the club. That was Cesc at Arsenal. He was better off being Mr. Arsenal than warming the Barca’s bench! Besides, Cesc hates not playing. Well, at least he used to say that before joining Barca but now he is all for ‘What’s important is that the team wins.’

And a very personal opinion, Cesc is too talented and too young to be a benchwarmer. He is a first 11 material.

Cesc’s undying love for Arsenal

Okay. This is an easy one. Do you ever remember Cesc pouring his heart out in public for Barca when he was playing for Arsenal? Well, I didn’t even know that he played for La Masia until a few years ago, when the transfer rumors started. Now, since Cesc left Arsenal, two good years ago, have we ever been through at least a month without having an Arsenal related quote from Cesc? No wonder journalists can not help but always refer to Cesc as the former Arsenal captain!!

Even his BFF Gerard Pique was quoted saying; “Cesc loves to talk about Arsenal.” And no, that was not from last year, it was on February 13^th, 2013.

Those are MY arguments. You can drop your thoughts on the comments and we will talk.

Till next time.

P E A C E