Tanzania line up Egypt friendly

By Emmanuel Muga
BBC Sport, Dar es Salaam

New Tanzania coach Jan Poulsen will lead the Taifa Stars against Egypt

Tanzania will play seven-time African champions Egypt in a friendly in Cairo on 11 August ahead of their Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Algeria.

The Taifa Stars, under new coach Jan Poulsen, are looking to test themselves against heavyweight opposition.

They went down 5-1 to five-time world champions Brazil ahead of the 2010 World Cup finals in June.

Tanzania, who have been grouped with Morocco and Central African Republic, face Algeria on 3 September.

"We wanted a team that plays the same of pattern of football as Algeria and Morocco, so we believe Egypt will give us a picture of what to expect from Algeria," Tanzania Football Federation spokesperson Florian Kaijage told the BBC.

Tanzania have not qualified for the Nations Cup finals since 1980, when the team made their maiden appearance in the continent's showpiece football tournament in Nigeria.

After failing to book their place at Ghana 2008 and Angola 2010, the TFF decided not to renew the contract of their Brazilian coach Marcio Maximo.

Danish boss Poulsen, 64, has succeeded Maximo, signing a two-year contract.

Poulsen won the European Championship as Denmark's assistant coach in 1992 and guided the Jordan Under-20 side to the World Under-20 finals in Canada in 2007.

The Dane is set to arrive in Dar es Salaam on Saturday night and will be in charge when the team plays Egypt.