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Zanzibar square it off with Matebeleland

by Staff reporter
29 Dec 2020 at 17:51hrs | Views
The spice islands roar into action on the 27th of March 2021 at Amani Stadium Zanzibar when the Zanzibar National Team takes on the Matabeleland National Team.

A rare International friendly pitying two interesting non FIFA International teams.

Founded in 1926 and formerly the Zanzibar Football Association the Zanzibar Football Federation organizes and runs Football in Zanzibar. It is one of the oldest African Football Associations.

The Zanzibar National Team represent the people of Zanzibar, which is made up of islands and is Semi - Autonomous with ْ a , 􏰁زن ِج َ􏰀ار :standing government and a President. Zanzibar (/ˈzænzɪbɑːr/; Swahili: Zanzibar; Arabic romanized: Zinjibār) is a semi-autonomous region of Tanzania. It is composed of the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, 25–50 kilometres (16–31 mi) off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands and two large ones: Unguja (the main island, referred to informally as Zanzibar) and Pemba Island.

The capital is Zanzibar City, located on the island of Unguja. Its historic centre is Stone Town, a World Heritage Site. Zanzibar's main industries are spices, raffia, and tourism. In particular, the islands produce cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, and black pepper. For this reason, the Zanzibar Archipelago, together with Tanzania's Mafia Island, are sometimes referred to locally as the "Spice Islands" It is in agreed and voluntary union with Tanganyika forming Tanzania.

As a nation state, it has competed in regional competitions since 1949. It currently competes in CECAFA organised tournaments and has Associate membership status in CAF. In CECAFA tournaments Zanzibar has produced some brilliant performances.

The Matabeleland Football Team nicknamed (Ingqungqulu ZikaMthwakazi) represents the multi - cultural people and nationalities of Matabeleland encompassing the Midlands area.

The team made its maiden international tournament in London in 2018. The World Football Cup was organized by the Confederation of Independent Football Associations (CONIFA) finishing 13th after placement games.

The team made history in many ways. Matabeleland has participated in two Human Rights Cup tournaments held in Johannesburg in 2018 and Cape Town in 2019 respectively. The Matabeleland Football Team was qualified for their second consecutive World Football Cup which was scheduled for Macedonia in June 2021 was unfortunately cancelled due to #COVID19.

Zanzibar has the experience and depth equated to most National Teams in Africa and is projected to win the match comfortably. However the Matabeleland Football Team is also capable of producing a shocker as they did in 2018 when they shocked Tuvalu 3 goals to 1 in group matches and went on to win other placement matches against relatively experienced teams.

This match will definitely be a litmus test for the Matabeleland Squad. After the CONIFA games Matabeleland has been ranked 1st in the Continent of Africa.



Source - own correspondent