Kenyans have taken to social media to mock their East African neighbors Tanzania after Morrocco secured a resounding victory of 3-0 against the Taifa Stars.
Tanzania national football team, Taifa Stars on Wednesday, January 17 suffered a disappointing defeat against the formidable Moroccan squad during their AFCON encounter at the Laurent Pokou Stadium in San Pedro.
As a result, social media platforms were on Thursday, January 18 flooded with humorous memes, witty comments and catchy hashtags with Kenyans highlighting the contrasting performance of their own national team.
Some also expressed playful sympathy for their Tanzanian counterparts.
Kenyans Mocks Tanzania
An X user Toto Dolly tweets was among those who mocked Taifa stars noting that they could not win the match.
“This is Tanzania, the home ground of Taifa stars that went for an agricultural trip to Cote D’Ivoire, how could you expect them to win surely, and they don’t have a playing field “she said attaching a photo of thatched houses.
In a mean and mocking post, KOT OCS wrote “The neighbor doesn’t have a star, or a solution to football, the Neighbor says he’s in light but sees Darkness in the field.”
“Leave football alone and continue with your bongo music with Diamond,” Brian Kipsokey stated.
Also, another user on X, Kennedy KK humored his followers with his comment over Taifa Stars defeat.
“A neighbor’s cry, a neighbor’s grouse for a dog’s cat’s steak. We are sad to hear our neighbors are crying so much from the defeat and the floor game while they can’t hear the English language too. Sorry neighbors,” he tweeted.
While comparing Tanzania’s national team to Manchester football club, Ramadhan Abdul noted, “Tanzania’s National Stars are the Manchester United of AFCON. They had to be embarrassed instead of sitting at home to watch football. Their value is just like their currency, there is no different from their money.
Samia Suluhu’s Message
Nonetheless, Tanzania President Samia Suluhu through a post on X congratulated the national team for a good game despite losing to Morrocco.
“A good game tonight from our Taifa Stars even though luck was not on our side. We continue to wish you all the best and the Nation is behind you in your next matches. “
On the other side, netizens criticized Kenya’s Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba after he posted that he would be the guest sports analyst on KBC Radio Taifa on January 17 urging Kenyans to support the Taifa Stars.
Some Kenyans bashed the CS for rallying support for the neighboring country whereas the Kenya national team will not participate in the AFCON games.
“How did Mozambique, Tanzania make it and Kenya didn’t? This is disappointing. It’s because we’ve allowed politics, bad politics, in everything,” Kennedy Nguri stated.
Another user on X, Rogan Adema tweeted saying, “Harambee stars should be there you just eat sports funds instead of supporting our teams to greater success… Such as this.”
Also Read:Why Onana Missed AFCON Match After Private Jet Flight to Ivory Coast
Kenya Not Featuring on AFCON 2023
Kenya’s National Football, Harambee Stars team did not feature on the delayed AFCON 2023 after it was locked out of the qualifiers following a FIFA ban.
FIFA on February 24, 2021, suspended Kenya from all its activities after the government failed to abide by its directive to reinstate the ousted officials including Football Kenya Federation President Nick Mwendwa.
However, the World Football governing body ratified Kenya’s indefinite suspension on March 31, during the FIFA Congress in Doha, Qatar.
Kenya last played its AFCON match in 2019, suffering elimination at the group’s stage matches.
Meanwhile, Kenya will make a comeback in the 2027 edition after qualifying automatically as one of the hosts of the tournament. Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania won the hosting rights of the tournament in 2027.
Also Read: Kenyan Referee Among VAR Team that Saved Egypt at AFCON
Taifa Stars Football Team
On the other hand, Tanzania has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup
Since qualifying for the 1980 Africa Cup of Nations, Tanzania endured nearly 40 years without major success, struggling in both African and World Cup qualifiers.
Their best effort was in 2008 Africa Cup of Nations qualification, where the Taifa Stars defeated Burkina Faso twice and only finished three points behind group winners Senegal.
On 24 March 2019, Tanzania beat East African rivals Uganda 3–0 to reach the finals of the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time in 39 years.
