DAR ES SALAAM, Sept. 14 -- IT was the sort of night when you wish the floodlights would blow out, the referee would abandon the game, and the crowd would be refund ed with free crates of Safari Lager instead of ninety minutes of national embarrassment.

One–nil down to Niger, in our own backyard and the noise wasnt the triumphant roar of Taifa Stars fans but the dull groan of resignation.

Only days earlier we had stumbled to a 1-1 draw away to Congo Brazzaville in Brazzaville.

That should have set alarm bells ringing. Now the bell had become a siren.

And yet, as the final whistle shrieked, somebody in the VIP box was already thinking about which singeli star to book for the next pre match concert.

That, in a nutshell, is Tanzani...