THE Tanzania national football team, Taifa Stars, settled for a goalless draw with Indonesia in an international friendly match yesterday at the Madya Stadium in Jakarta.

With Young Africans and Azam FC facing off in later yesterday's Federation Cup final, Taifa Stars under caretaker coach Hemed ‘Morocco’ Suleiman had several players absent for the warm-up game.

The Yanga players who missed the game are Aboutwalib Mshery, Bakari Mwamnyeto, Ibrahim Bacca, Nickson Kibabage, Mudathir Yahya and Clement Mzize, in addition to Azam FC's Lusajo Mwaikenda, Pascal Msindo, Nathaniel Chilambo, Feisal Salum, Yahya Zayd and Abdulhamis Suleiman.

It came as no surprise when coach Morocco handed six players their international debut or first starts for Taifa Stars. 

Ali Salim, Lameck Lawi, Mukrim Issa, Edwin Balua, Yusuph Kagoma, Miano Danilo and Waziri Junior started the game. 

Himid Mao and Mohamed Hussein were the only experienced players in the starting eleven.

Cheered by a passionate and decent crowd, hosts Indonesia dominated the friendly meant to prepare both teams for their World Cup qualifiers but failed to create clear-cut chances.

Taifa Stars used quick counterattacks and managed to breach the Indonesia defence but failed to find the back of the net confirming the team’s inability to turn their chances into goals.

Midway into the second half, starter Waziri Junior missed from close range after shooting straight at the goalkeeper when he was through on goal. 

That was his final contribution for the day as Ibrahim Ahmada took his place a minute later.

Defender Danilo and midfielder Abraham also paved the way for Laurian Makame and Ben Starkie as coach Morocco tried to contain the increasing pressure from the hosts.

However, the changes afforded Indonesia more room to press high, in efforts that saw them come very close to finding the winner when they hit the crossbar in the 76th minute.

Tanzania is currently ranked higher than Indonesia in the FIFA World Rankings. Tanzania is in the 119th place, while Indonesia is fifteen places behind in the 134th spot in the world rankings.

Taifa Stars are scheduled to face Zambia in a 2026 World Cup qualifier away game next week. 

In the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification, Tanzania is in CAF group E alongside Morocco, DR Congo, Zambia, and Niger. 

Eritrea withdrew before the first matches were played.

Taifa Stars began their campaign with a 1-0 away victory over Niger before falling to a 2-0 home defeat in the hands of group favourites Morocco in November last year. 

As a result, Taifa Stars are fourth in their group though tied on points with Morocco, Zambia and Niger