On Boxing Day 2023, Tarryn Allarakhia played in Wealdstone’s 2-0 win over Maidenhead United after an hour in the National League.
Less than two weeks later, he made his debut for Tanzania in a friendly against Egypt, taking on the likes of Mohamed Salah, Mohamed Elneny, Trezeguet and Omar Marmoushi.
The word ‘wind’ comes to mind.
Allarakhia was born and raised in East London. His mother is British and his father is of Tanzanian heritage. He was on Leyton Orient’s books as a youngster but has played non-league for all but three seasons at Crawley between 2018 and 2021.
The 28-year-old has visited his grandmother and other family in “beautiful” Tanzania a few times, but the level he is playing at means playing for the national team is far from his mind.
That all changed when he received a call from then-manager Adel Amrouch, following a conversation with another England-born Tanzanian international, Haji Mnoga, who was on loan at Aldershot from Portsmouth.
“My name came up and the coach said he liked the way I played.” Allarakhia said.
“He actually came all the way here to watch me play. That’s when I knew he was really interested in me.
“At first there was nothing certain or concrete, but there were suggestions that it could happen. When the opportunity came to play in Tanzania, I knew I wanted to play in Tanzania and I wanted to check it off the list.”
At the start of the new year, he flew to Cairo and won his historic first cap on 7 January 2024, replacing Simon Msuva at half-time.
“When I entered the stadium and heard the national anthem being played, I knew I was playing for my country.
“I won’t tell you the star-struck moment when I was up against all these stars, but I was like, ‘Wow, I’m actually here!’
“I came and thought, ‘What have I got to lose?’ No one knew who I was, so I had to go out and show them what I could do.
“It was a successful debut because I played equally well.
“Later, I tried to bring Salah’s shirt, but there were so many security guards, so I thought I’d just leave it and take the memories!”
The whirlwind continued apace as Allarakhia was named in Amrouche’s squad for the delayed AFCON 2023 in Ivory Coast, along with the aforementioned Mnoga and Ben Starkie. They spoke to Sky Sports about their experiences ahead of the tournament.
“It was tough being a rookie and to be fair, all the boys made time for me and that helped us get along,” he added.
“But it was good to have all the European boys there. It makes a big difference and you feel more comfortable when you have familiar faces around you.
“I think it would have been much more difficult if I had gone alone.”
Just 10 days after his debut, Allarakhia started on the left wing in Taifa Stars’ seventh AFCON match against Morocco.
“I wasn’t impressed in Egypt, but at AFCON I was like, ‘Wow, this is crazy. I’m here.’”
Alarakia told Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi that he was humbled.
“But that game wasn’t as good as the first one. I was humbled by Achiraf Hakimi, the best right-back in the world.
“It was a great learning curve. Playing in England and playing in 40-degree heat, the climate didn’t help, but I took everything I could from that game to help me prepare for the next game.”
Allarakhia was on the bench for the next two group matches, at which point Hemed Morocco was appointed caretaker manager and Amrouche was suspended by the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF).
The Algerian coach was suspended for eight games and fined $10,000 by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The TFF statement said he had mentioned that “Morocco used its influence with CAF to manipulate the schedule and conduct of the match”.
Tanzania ended AFCON 2023 in the group stage, but were politely eliminated considering behind-the-scenes turmoil, including a 3-0 loss to Morocco, a 1-1 draw with Zambia and a 0-0 draw with the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Alarakia made his third international appearance in a 1–0 friendly loss to Bulgaria in March 2024, but did not feature in the national team again for more than 18 months.
As recently as October, the Morocco coach recalled him for a World Cup qualifier against Zambia and a friendly against Iran.
“At AFCON, I couldn’t really play against Egypt, so maybe he thought getting a little bit of rest would help a little bit. To be fair, I think it did,” Allarakhia says.
“I had a really good camp, a very positive camp, so I think it’s time to get going.”
In November, he returned to Cairo for a friendly against Kuwait, where he scored his first international goal. He caught the square ball in the D area and put it into the upper right corner with a neat touch.
On 9 December, Allarakhia was named in the AFCON 2025 squad by new Tanzania permanent coach Miguel Gamondi.
He decided to seize this second chance.
“The first AFCON didn’t go the way I wanted, but football changes very quickly. Now I have another chance to redeem myself. I feel older, a little wiser, stronger and fitter.”
“Honestly, it would mean a lot to me if I could help my country go far in a major tournament, especially when we are underdogs. It will only make things better.
“We are a tough group, but hopefully I can make a difference in the future.”
The trade-off will temporarily halt Rochdale’s promotion drive. Dale are top of the National League at the time of this writing with three games in hand, with Allarachia leading the way with three goals and one assist so far.
“We are pushing for promotion and I am still part of that. It is a big thing to play for your country and Rochdale have been very good to me. They are encouraging me to go.”
He will be hoping that the confidence he gained from domestic football will play a key role in impressing before the eyes of the world.
