Tusker’s Tanzanian import features in Taifa Stars friendly

Tusker FC forward Ibrahim Joshua was entrusted with a rare starting berth for the Tanzanian national football team on Tuesday when the Honour Janza currently coached side travelled to Benghazi to take on Libya in a FIFA international friendly match.

Staged at the Modern Benghazi stadium, Joshua was named in a front three alongside Simon Msuva and Said Khamis but the attacking trio failed to deliver the goods as Libya recorded a 2-1 victory over Taifa Stars.

The hosts were the first to take the lead in the 21st minute when 29-year-old Mohammed Sola drilled in a penalty awarded to Libya.

The Tanzanians managed to restore parity five minutes before the half time break as Msuva found the back of the net in the 40th minute.

Just four minutes after the break though, Taifa Stars found themselves on the backfoot for a second time in the match as Sola notched his brace in restoring Libya’s lead. This time, the team failed to find any response as Libya held on for their 2-1 win.

Joshua was handed his maiden Tanzanian callup back in March this year after an impressive start to life in the Kenyan league where he scored eleven goals in his debut season with Tusker and won the 2021/2022 Football Kenya federation Premier League and 2022 FKF up.

Meanwhile, Joshua’s club teammate Kalos Kirenge was also included in the matchday squad that played against Libya.

Kirenge was making a return to the national team after missing in the last couple of instances, this being his first call-up as a Tusker player.

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Joshua was named for the first time in the 28-man provisional squad for the two test matches against the Central Africa Republic and Sudan and went on to make his debut off the bench against the former.