Twiga Stars coach, Charles Boniface Mkwasa

Twiga Stars head coach Charles Boniface has complained of ‘implied hostility’ his players faced during the first leg tie of the African Women Championship qualifier match played against Ethiopia in Addis Ababa last Sunday.

The team arrived home yesterday after a four hour flight having lost the first leg tie by 2-1 goals to stay under pressure ahead of the return leg to be played in a fortnight.

Boniface said players of the team were bombarded with psychological assault, particularly during the match day.

He said there was a ‘dense air’ inside the   dressing rooms that caused players to feel dizziness and uneasy

"Most of our players were severely affected to the extent of losing steam as the second half kicked off," he said.

However, Boniface, who has been with the team for several years now, congratulated his players for fighting hard to overcome the situation and lose by narrow margin.

All players of the team have been given three resting days before resuming practise session to gear up for the return leg on May 16 at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam.

Despite the first leg defeat, Boniface still remained optimistic over his team’s progression into the AWC qualifier berth through winning the home leg.

Aggregate winners after the return leg would qualify to feature in the eight edition of AWC to be staged in Equatorial Guinea later in November.

The team’s skipper Asha Rashid pledged to excel and sail through the finals berth at the end of the return leg.

She said the weather at the high altitude Addis Ababa also played its role to derail the players’ playing form and concentration.

“We lost the match but still we are not out of the run yet,” she said.

Twiga Stars, with major composition of Dar es Salaam-based players, have set sight on second appearance in the continental high profile women championship.

The team made their maiden appearance in 201o when South Africa hosted the tourney, only to collapse at the preliminary stages.