Author: BENJAMIN BEN
AfricaPress-Tanzania: Simba remain confident to maintain their 100 per cent start of the season’s top flight league marathon as they face Mtibwa Sugar at Jamhuri Stadium in Morogoro tomorrow.
The contingent of Simba squad arrived safely in Morogoro for the final touches before heading to their season’s second match with a big morale following their 2-1 win over Ihefu FC at Sokoine Memorial Stadium in Mbeya last week.
Speaking on Thursday, the team’s manager Patrick Rweyemamu said they have travelled with all 28 players and that none has been left out.
“We have decided to go with all the players so that the technical bench can have wide selection options in case something happens prior to the game,” he said.
Again, Rweyemamu reiterated that the ongoing league will be difficult even though preparation time by most teams was very limited.
“Mtibwa Sugar are among the toughest teams in the context and the fact that they have recorded a draw in their opening match will make them play hard to pocket vital three points from us, but we are ready for that and our mission to retain the league title remains unchanged,” he said.
About the atmosphere in the camp, the manager said everything is moving smoothly such that they do not have any problems which can affect general performance of the team.
He adds, they have excelled to build a strong camp where players can live happily.
On his part, Mtibwa Sugar Information Officer Thobias Kifaru said there is no way Simba should expect to leave Morogoro unhurt.
“Our team this season is on fire and we want to prove that by facing Simba. They (Simba) won their first match because they were playing with a small team (Ihefu) who are still guests in the league.
“The goalless draw we stamped against Ruvu Shooting came because we did not feature our usual squad which will be used tomorrow. “It should be remembered that we are the defending champions of Mapinduzi Cup and we defeated Simba in the final, therefore they have every reason to respect us,” said Kifaru.
The Morogoro-based club was among the teams which narrowly escaped league relegation last season as such, they have another chance to showcase their potential this term.
Meanwhile, former Simba midfielder Sharaf Shiboub has joined Algerian side CS Constantine.
