NATIONAL TEAM - TANZANIA - COACH - Mkwasa named interim coach
Tanzania has appointed former international Charles Boniface Mkwasa as interim coach to replace sacked Dutchman Mart Noorj.
The Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) President Jamal Malinzi said Mkwasa would be assisted by Zanzibar coach Hemed Morocco.
His position will be reviewed at the end of September.
"He will take us through the matches against Uganda and Nigeria; that's his assignment for now," said Malinzi.
Mkwasa will continue in his role as assistant coach at his former club Yanga, where he works with another Dutch coach in Hans Van de Pluijm.
The caretaker coach's first task is to overturn a 3:0 goal deficit against neighbours Uganda in the second leg of their African Nations Championship qualifier in Kampala in less than a fortnight.
The loss in the first leg cost Nooij his job after a poor campaign as a guest side at the recent Southern African championship, the Cosafa Cup, where they lost all three matches.
The former Yanga SC midfielder is expected to overhaul the squad that lost the opening 2017 African Cup of Nations qualifier match to Egypt and pick a new-look team to face Nigeria in the second match in September.
"After losing to Uganda, we paid the players their dues and asked them to go home and wait. Mkwasa is at liberty to call whoever he wants," added Malinzi.
Meanwhile, Nooij, who needed police protection to leave the stadium after Saturday's loss to Uganda, blamed the woes on his policy of putting faith in young talents.
"My contract was ending in 2016, but now it has ended in 2015. I have bad feelings, of course. My family is here; they came on Saturday expecting to see the team win a game under a successful coach, but they saw their brother failing and the team losing," he
said in a pensive mood.
"I did my utmost to bring Tanzanian football to a certain level of international football, and I would not change anything if I did it again. I have no regrets about the decisions or methods I used; if I should do it again, I would do the same.
"Certainly, everything is possible in football; from here you are likely to find me somewhere in Africa, on the borders of Tanzania or outside Tanzania."
Tanzania