Tanzania fires national team coach following 1-0 defeat to Uganda

By Osoro Nyawangah, MWANZA Tanzania

The Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) has appointed former Namungo Football Club head coach, Honour Janza, as interim head coach of national team, Taifa Stars following termination of long serving manager, Kim Poulsen on 29th August.

New Taifa Stars head coach, Honour Janza

Poulsen first came to Tanzania in 2011 as Academy manager, then became national team manager between 2012-2014. He was again appointed as Academy manager in 2016 until 2018 after which he went home to train FC Sönderborg then came back to Tanzania in 2021.

The Federation confirmed the development in a press statement issued 29th August, signed by the federation’s communication officer, Cliford Ndimbo. 

The Zambian national who previously managed the Zambian national team, Chipolopolo between 2014-2015, takes over from Poulsen who has had his contract terminated following the Taifa Stars’ 1-0 defeat to Uganda in the 2023 CHAN qualifiers last Sunday in Dar es Salaam.

“Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) has decided to withdraw coach Kim Poulsen with his subordinates from Taifa Stars’ technical bench.” Reads the press statement adding that the federation has appointed Honour Janza to head the technical team with Meck Maxime as assistant coach and Juma Kaseja as goalkeepers’ coach.

Kim Poulsen 

Ndimbo further revealed that Poulsen will remain as youth national team coach until the end of his contract.

The Danish tactician signed a three-year contract with TFF in February 2021 as the head coach of the national football team replacing Burundi coach Etienne Ndayiragije who also replaced Nigerian coach Amunike after parting ways with TFF following failure of the team to do well in the 2019 Africa Nations Cup (Afcon) held in Cairo, Egypt.

Janza’s first engagement could come soon as Tanzania faces Uganda in the second leg of the CHAN Qualifiers on 3rd September. 

The Taifa Stars will be hoping to overturn a 1-0 defeat to qualify to the championship to be hosted in Algeria next year.

Janza is the last coach to have qualified the Chipolopolo to the Africa Cup of Nations back in 2015; he holds a Uefa ‘B’ coaching licence, a Confederation of African Football (CAF) ‘A’ licence and is an elite coach’s instructor for the continent’s governing body. - Africa