AfricaPress-Tanzania: SIMBA have to be on their guard as their net opponents in CAF Champions League AS Vita have vowed to shock the Msimbazi Street giants at their own back yard on April 3rd this year.
Simba will host the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) side at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam in the penultimate match of group A, needing just a point to seal their place into the quarterfinals stage of the continental premier club championship.
The Congolese side posted on their instragram account indicating that they will come for a full combat in Dar es Salaam in search for nothing else than maximum points to keep them floating for a possible place in the last eight.
“Simba will cry on April 3 this year. We are not ready to be out of quarterfinals two times. It will be a do or die war,” they wrote on the page.
Simba are on top of the group with ten points, three ahead of second placed Egyptian giants Al Ahly, who also beat AS Vita 3-0 in their previous assignment. AS Vita have also bagged up four points as Al-Merrikh are tail ender with a single point.
However, Simba will probably face a tough challenge for the victory seeking AS Vita, who also needs to win to be among serious contenders for the quarterfinal place.
Should AS Vita win, they will earn seven points with one match on their hand for their possibility to bag ten points if they win them all. After playing Simba, their next match will be against Al-Merrikh on April 9th this year.
AS Vita’s Head Coach, Jean-Florent Ikwange Ibenge was quoted as saying that they face a ‘must win’ situation for them to avoid packing up their bags.
“We actually need to win all of our two remaining matches to be a 100 per cent secure,” “But our sailing will also depend on results of other group-mates,” he said.
Simba Head Coach, Didier Gomes has said that their forthcoming against AS Vita is unpredictable but insisted that winning at home is their first priority.
Despite being in somber mood with the country in 21 days of mourning following the death of former President John Magufuli, Simba are in intensive preparations ahead of their forthcoming encounters.
The Reds are training without at least 16 players, as they are out serving their respective national teams for the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers campaigns.
However, the Frenchman tactician had already underlined his target and knowing the importance of the match, he is working with the players available in the squad to ensure the programme is well executed.
“We know the significance securing positive results in the forthcoming match that is why; we have kicked off our preparations without the 16 players, who are with their national teams “Everything is going on smoothly and the technical bench will finalise the training programme after the 16 players rejoin the squad,” disclosed Team Manager, Patrick Rweyemamu.
Simba players who are with the national team, Taifa Stars are Aishi Manula, Shomari Kapombe, Mohamed Hussein, Kennedy Juma, Erasto Nyoni, Jonas Mkude, Hassan Dilunga, Mzamiru Yassin and John Bocco.
Others are Clatous Chama and Rally Bwalya who are with Zambia’s Chipolopolo, Luis Miquissone (Mozambique), Meddie Kagere (Rwanda), Joash Onyango and Francis Kahata (Kenya) and Thadeo Lwanga (Uganda).
Another country’s representative in the CAF Confederation Cup, Namungo FC, who are featuring for their first time ever in the continental tournament have also stepped up training for their Match Day Three against Zambia’s Nkana FC on April 4th in Dar es Salaam.
Namungo are placed third in group D without a point after losing their two opening games.
They lost 1-0 to Raja Casa away in Casablanca, Morocco, before suffering a 0-2 home defeat to Egyptian side Pyramid.
