On Boxing Day 2023, Tarryn Allarakhia played an hour of Wealdstone’s 2-0 win over Maidenhead United in the National League.
Less than two weeks later he was making his debut for Tanzania in a friendly against Egypt, facing off against Mohamed Salah, Mohamed Elneny, Trezeguet and Omar Marmoush, no less.
The word ‘whirlwind’ comes to mind.
Allarakhia was east London born and raised; his mum is English, with his Tanzanian heritage from his dad. He was on Leyton Orient’s books as a youngster, but barring three seasons at Crawley between 2018 and 2021, has otherwise played in non-League.
The 28-year-old had visited his nan and other family members in “beautiful” Tanzania a handful of times, but the level he was playing at meant playing international football was far from his mind.
That changed when he received a call from the head coach at the time, Adel Amrouche, following a conversation with Haji Mnoga, another UK-born Tanzania international, who was then on loan at Aldershot from Portsmouth.
“My name came up and the manager said he liked the way I play,” Allarakhia says.
“He actually came all the way over to watch me play. That’s when I knew he was really, really keen on me.
“Nothing was certain or concrete at the start, but there suggestions that it could happen. When the opportunity to play for Tanzania came up, I knew I’d love to play for them and it was something I wanted to check off the list.”
Early in the new year, he flew to Cairo and on January 7 2024, replaced Simon Msuva at half-time to earn that historic first cap.
“When I stepped into the stadium, then heard the national anthem, it dawned on me I was playing international football.
“I wouldn’t say it a moment where I was starstruck when I came up against all these stars, but it was like: ‘Wow, I’m actually here!’
“I came on and I just thought: ‘What is there to lose?’ No one really knew who I was, so I just had to go out there and show what I could do.
“I had a good game as well, to be fair, so it was a successful debut.
“I did try to get Salah’s shirt afterwards, but there were too many security guards so I thought I’d just leave it and take the memories!”
The whirlwind quickly continued because Allarakhia was then named in Amrouche’s squad for the delayed AFCON 2023 in the Ivory Coast, alongside the aforementioned Mnoga and Ben Starkie, who spoke to Sky Sports about their own experiences in the lead-up to the tournament.
“When you’re new, it’s hard and, to be fair, all the boys made time for me, which helped us gel,” he adds.
“But it was good to have all the European boys there. It makes a big difference and it makes you more comfortable when you’ve got familiar faces around you.
“If I went there on my own, I think it would have been much harder.”
Just 10 days after his debut, Allarakhia started on the left wing in what was only the Taifa Stars’ seventh AFCON match, against Morocco.
“In Egypt I didn’t get starstruck, but at AFCON, that’s where I was like: ‘Wow. This is mad. I’m here.’
Allarakhia says he was ‘humbled’ by Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi
“But that game didn’t go as good as the first one. I got humbled by Achraf Hakimi, the best right-back in the world.
“It was a great learning curve. The climate didn’t help, going from playing in England to playing in 40-degree heat, but I made sure I took every single bit I could learn from that game to help me be ready for the next one.”
Allarakhia was on the bench for the next two group games, by which point Hemed Morocco had been installed as caretaker, with Amrouche suspended by the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF).
The Algerian coach had been handed an eight-match ban and a $10,000 fine by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). A TFF statement said he had made comments about “Morocco having influence in CAF, to manipulate the match scheduling and officiating”.
Tanzania exited AFCON 2023 at the group stages, but did so respectably, given the disruption behind the scenes, having lost 3-0 to Morocco, drawn 1-1 with Zambia and 0-0 with DR Congo.
Allarakhia earned his third cap when he played in a 1-0 friendly defeat to Bulgaria in March 2024, but was not part of the national team set-up again for more than 18 months.
That was until October, when coach Morocco recalled him for a World Cup qualifier against Zambia and a friendly against Iran.
“At AFCON, I didn’t really hit the ground running like against Egypt, so maybe he just thought having a little break from it would help a little bit – and to be fair, I think it actually did,” Allarakhia says.
“I had a really good camp. A very positive camp. That’s why I feel like now it’s time to kick on.”
In November, he returned to Cairo for a friendly against Kuwait where he scored his first international goal in style. He collected a square ball in the D, took a neat touch and fired into the top right corner.
On December 9, Allarakhia was named in the squad for AFCON 2025 by Miguel Gamondi – the new permanent Tanzania head coach.
He is determined to seized this second opportunity.
“Even though that first AFCON didn’t go as I wanted to, football changes very quickly. There’s another opportunity now where I can redeem myself. I’m older, a bit wiser and I feel stronger and fitter.
“Honestly, it would mean the world to me if I can help my country go far in a major tournament, especially when we’re the underdogs. It just makes it better.
“We’ve got a tough group, but hopefully I could be the difference going forward.”
The trade-off is temporarily leaving Rochdale’s promotion push. Dale are top of the National League at the time of writing, with three games in hand, and Allarakhia has chipped in with three goals and one assist so far.
“We’re in a promotion push and I am still part of that. Playing for your country is a big thing and Rochdale have been very good to me. They’re encouraging me to go.”
He will be hoping that the confidence gained from domestic football will play an important role in impressing in front of the eyes of the world.
