When Kim Poulsen assumed the Tanzania reins in May 2012, the Taifa Stars were ranked 145th on the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking and 42nd in Africa. In less than a year, the Dane has helped the east Africans climb to 119th in the world and 33rd on the continent, after leaping up eight spots in the last edition of the global ladder. A surprising 3-1 victory over Morocco in a 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ qualifier on 24 March will undoubtedly see the team rise even further in the next month.
Tanzania have only once managed to qualify for the CAF Africa Cup of Nations. That was in 1980, when two defeats and one draw was not enough to see them escape the first round. Their Ranking story is similarly disappointing, reaching their all-time low in October 2005, when they were 175th in the world. Although they climbed to 89th in December 2007, they were caught in a downward spiral since then.
When Poulsen, who up to then had been in charge of the Tanzania U-20 team, replaced his Danish namesake Jan Poulsen, he introduced several of the players with whom he had worked with in the youth side.
"I look for players who have the class, of course, but they also have to have the character to do well and they have to have pride," Poulsen, who also mentioned that the team had benefited from a new long-term sponsor, which enabled the Taifa Stars to embark on a series of international friendlies, told FIFA.com
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