WITH regards to youth football, this year promises to be a monumental one for our national men’s youth teams.

Indeed, our Ngorongoro Heroes are slated to participate in the U-20 AFCON this year while the Serengeti Boys are scheduled to partake in the U-17 AFCON this year as well.

Considering that these two African youth football championships are of huge import, it is incumbent upon the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) to ensure that our gifted youth teams are thoroughly prepared for their respective massive tests later this year.

After all, it is one of football’s universal, worst-kept secrets that underprepared teams almost always badly botch up their performances at football competitions.

In light of that, one hopes that both the Ngorongoro Heroes and the Serengeti Boys can encouragingly make a flying start to the U-20 AFCON and U-17 AFCON respectively, which would stand them in good stead.

Let us remain with football and now discuss the next men’s FIFA World Cup, which will take place in 2026 in three co-hosting countries: the USA, Canada and Mexico. 

Lest we forget, the Atlas Lions of Morocco extended the bounds of African achievement at the quadrennial football feast by advancing to the 2022 Qatar World Cup’s semi-finals, which was unquestionably an unprecedented accomplishment for African football.

It should also be noted here that in the pre-2022 World Cup era, the furthest any African football team had progressed to in World Cup history was the quarterfinals.

However, thanks to Morocco’s splendid heroics at the last World Cup, it is arguably near-certain that passionate African football enthusiasts will have greater expectations of the continent’s representatives at the FIFA World Cup next year.

Indeed, it should be underscored that quarterfinal appearances at the World Cup will no longer suffice for committed African football devotees.

It should also be remembered that African football icons are regarded as being among the globe’s most skillful and respected football maestros.

Be it Mohamed Salah in England or Ademola Lookman in Italy among many others, African football aces are held in the highest esteem across this vast globe.

Thus, African football teams should be cognizant of the fact that greater football feats are expected of them on world football’s biggest stage.

Let us presently zero-in on domestic women’s football, which is pleasingly continuing to go from strength to strength.

Indeed, fans of local women’s football were rendered gleeful last week when the news broke that the Twiga Stars’ skipper Opah Clement (pictured) has now moved to the Mexican football side FC Juarez.

Unmistakably, Clement’s move to Mexico is a truly great accomplishment, especially when one considers that there are only a handful of female Tanzanian football players plying their trade overseas.

Let us hope then that Clement’s move to FC Juarez will spur many home-based, promising female football players to work harder and do better in a bid to further their football careers.