Taifa Stars head coach Kim Poulsen praised holding midfielder Athumani Idd alias ‘Chuji’ branding him a special player.

Taifa Stars coach Kim Poulsen shares a light moment with midfielder Athumani Idd ‘Chuji’ (right) during the team’s training session at the Karume Memorial Stadium in Dar es Salaam

The Yanga’s holding midfielder, who has hit back his top form earned a call back into the national team, after almost two years of being overlooked.

“I’m impressed with his (Idd) commitment in training. His understanding with the rest of the colleagues in the squad is also perfect,” said the Dane tactician.  Idd was also outstanding at the just ended regional club championships. He was brilliant and provided a perfect shield to Yanga’s back four. His vision and passing was clever as he kept everything simple to move his team from rear to the final third, and definitely there was no way coach Poulsen could overlook him again.

The midfielder was reduced to an outcast figure after falling out with the former Taifa Stars coach Brazilian Marcio Maximo, allegedly for indiscipline grounds. He could also not break into the team under another Dane coach Jan Poulsen.

He urged reporters to keep attending the team’s training session and observe for themselves the commitment of players.   Stars moved into camp last Wednesday ahead of their international friendly match against Botswana’s Zebras in Gaborone on Wednesday.

The full squad has:

Goalkeepers: Deogratias Munishi (Azam), skipper Juma Kaseja (Simba) and Mwadini Ali (Azam).

Defenders: Assistant captain Aggrey Morris (Azam), Erasto Nyoni (Azam), Kelvin Yondani (Yanga) and Amir Maftah (Simba).

Midfielders: Athuman Idd (Yanga), Frank Domayo (Yanga), Haruna Moshi (Simba), Mrisho Ngassa (Azam), Mwinyi Kazimoto (Simba), Ramadhan Chombo (Azam), Ramadhan Singano (Simba), Salum Abubakar (Azam) and Shabani Nditi (Mtibwa Sugar).

Strikers: John Bocco (Azam), Mbwana Samata (TP Mazembe, the Democratic Republic of Congo- DRC), Said Bahanuzi (Yanga), Simon Msuva (Yanga) and Thomas Ulimwengu (TP Mazembe – DRC).

By MOHAMED MAMBO, Tanzania Daily News

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