Africa-Press – Tanzania. SIMBA jet off today to Botswana capital Gaborone ahead of their crucial CAF Champions League match against Jwaneng Galaxy at the National Stadium this Sunday.
Simba are the only envoys in the Champions League as such; they have carried souls of many Tanzanians who wish them well to make it into the group stages and beyond.
The winner in the two-legged battle will proceed into group stage of the continent’s biggest inter-club tournament. Though aged only seven years compared to Simba who have been active for 85 years, the Tanzanian envoys insisted they will not underestimate their rivals saying the fact that they play in the Champions League is enough to make them (Galaxy) a deadly side.
After meeting on October 17th, the two teams will face each other again on October 24th at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam.
Speaking in the city recently, the club’s manager Patrick Rweyemamu said despite partially knowing their opponents, they will not underestimate them since reaching at this stage means they are a complete side.
“In football, there is no small team. We are aware that they are champions of Botswana and we are going to play against the champions. Even if you face a fourth division team, there is no need to underrate them. “Disrespecting your opponents is not a good thing at all because anything in football can happen since you can have ample preparations but fail to make it because sometimes, luck plays its part in football. “You can never achieve your goals if you fail to respect your opponents as such, our mentality is that in order to step into the group stages, we must defeat Galaxy,” he said.
On the tactical aspect, the manager pointed out that the coach and his entire technical bench are always working hard to ensure that they generate the required results from both legs.
“Playing pattern will definitely change because we have new players in the team who are still getting used to our style and as time goes, things will be working out better for the team,” he said.
Simba declared that their target in this season’s Champions League is to go beyond the quarter-finals phase they reached last season before being eliminated by the finalists Kaizer Chiefs on a 4-3 aggregate loss.
The Msimbazi Street Reds were just a few steps away from reaching into the finals of the competition hence they want to achieve that feat this term and they believe that they have what it takes to cruise far. Simba have grown up considerably in the past five years.
They have today become among the top 15 clubs in Africa with a huge fan base. The club’s investor and development innovator, Mohamedi Dewji said during an interview with CNN that the 85-year club is now a force to reckon with in Africa having today drawn 40 millions fans in the past four years since he was deeply involved as a sponsor.
Speaking in an interview with CNN, Mo told CNN that he has spent about 20millions dollars in the club to help the club heighten its status at the continental level.
Mo added that he has bigger aspiration and that is his passion though in the business he is losing a lot of money but he insisted that he loves the club, he loves the President and he loves his country.
