Newly appointed head coach of the Tanzanian national team, Emmanuel Amuneke is aiming to qualify the team for next year’s African Cup of Nations.
Taifa Stars as the Tanzanian national team is fondly called have not qualified for the African flagship competition since 1980.
Tanzania is currently third in group L of the African Cup of Nations qualifiers after drawing their first match 1-1 with Lesotho. The Cranes of Uganda are top of the group with three points while Cape Verde is last with no point.
Amuneke will have to guide the Taifa Stars to finish at least in second place if they will break the 38 years jinx of not qualifying for the AFCON.
Amuneke’s appointment comes five months after he left his job at the Sudanese club, Al Khartoum SC.
The BBC reports that Amuneke’s two-year contract with the Tanzania Football Federation includes overseeing the country’s under-17 and under-20 teams.
Meanwhile, Amuneke has appointed Emeka Amadi, who worked with him during his days with the Flying Eagles, the goalkeeper trainer for the Taifa Stars.
Amuneke was part of the Super Eagles team that conquered Africa in Tunisia 94 and took the world by storm at the USA 94 World Cup. He scored Nigeria’s winning goal against Argentina as Dream Team I won the gold medal of the male football event of the Atlanta 96 Olympic Games.
In 2013, he was the assistant coach when Nigeria won the FIFA under-17 World Cup. He became the head coach in 2015, leading the Golden Eaglets to successfully defend the trophy in Chile.
This new appointment will be the first time Amuneke actually handles a senior team as head coach.
Other Nigerians to have handled a foreign national team are Christian Chukwu, who handled the Cranes of Uganda and late Stephen Keshi who qualified the Hawks of Togo for the 2006 World Cup.
