Former Barcelona star appointed coach of Tanzania National Team

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Former Barcelona star, Emmanuel Amuneke has been appointed coach of the Tanzanian national team, Taifa Stars'.

The Nigerian was unveiled on Monday after he signed a two-year deal.

Amuneke was part of the FIFA Technical study group in the last World Cup Russia 2018 and has also coached Nigeria's under -17 and under -20 teams in the past.

He led the under-17 team of Nigeria, The Golden Eaglets to victory in the FIFA under -17 World Cup in Chile in 2015.

He also previously worked as a scout for Manchester United and was more recently coach of Sudanese club Al Khartoum SC.

As a player, Amuneke spent four injury-blighted seasons (1996 -2000) with Barcelona appearing 19 times and scoring only one goal.

He also played in Portugal with Sporting Lisbon with whom he won the Portuguese cup in 1994.

He was named African footballer of the year in 1994 after helping Nigeria win the Africa cup of Nations with two goals in the final against Zambia.

Amuneke also played in the 1994 World Cup in the USA where he scored two goals for Nigeria and in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta where Nigeria won the Gold medal in the football event with Amuneke scoring the last goal in the final

His first assignment with the Tanzanian national team will be an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Uganda next month.

The Taifa stars are drawn in group L in the qualifiers alongside Uganda, Lesotho and Cape Verde.

They are presently placed third in the group standings after playing a 1 - 1 draw against Lesotho in their first group match. Uganda presently top the group.

If Amuneke is able to successfully navigate the qualifiers and get the Taifa Stars' through to the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations it would be a big achievement by the 47 years old Nigerian as Tanzania has not qualified for the championship in the last 38 years.

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Edited by Amar Anand
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