Africa-Press – Tanzania. AS the heat rises ahead of the epic NBC Premier League’s New Year opener between Simba and Azam on Saturday, both teams have intensified drills ready to grab maximum points.
The two sides meet at the giant Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam in a history-making match that has already been dubbed ‘Mzizima Derby’ with each team looking sharp to succeed on the day.
They faceoff with a six-point gap separating them as Simba has 21 points from their nine matches while Azam has garnered 15 points in their ten fixtures as such; the three points on standby will be seriously hunted on the day.
Their recent performance in the league is almost the same as each managed to win with a big margin (4-1) during their previous league duels hence it seems the game will be open to attract many goals. Simba hammered KMC 4-1 at Ali Hassan Mwinyi Stadium in Tabora while Azam punished Ruvu Shooting with the same margin at their backyard Azam Complex to create a balanced status before Saturday’s game.
The defending champions under the tutelage of Spanish coach Pablo Franco will be eager to continue their splendid performance of the campaign and most importantly, to present a deserved new year gift to their supporters. For Azam, they are set to miss three of their key players who are Prince Dube, Bruce Kangwa and Never Tigere who have reportedly traveled to their native country Zimbabwe to link up with the team ahead of 2022 AFCON finals in Cameroon.
Clarifying on this development, Azam’s Information Officer Thabit Zakaria said the trio has been called for the provisional squad of Zimbabwe whose final list will be declared today. “The final squad of Zimbabwe heading to AFCON finals will be named tomorrow (today) as such it can happen that all our three players could be selected or just some of them. For those who will not make it, they will return back in the country to join their colleagues in camp,” said Zakaria.
Through Azam’s official Instagram account, the trio has been pictured training with the Zimbabwe national team to keep themselves in good shape before making the trip to the battlefield. The return of skipper Aggrey Morris and Mudathir Yahya into the camp has boosted the squad before the epic match as they will try to bring their experience and help their team emerge victors.
In his words recently, the team’s interim coach Abdihamid Moallin said he is pleased with the work-rate of his charges in their training programs ahead of the tense encounter.
Moallin, who is American of Somalia origin, was initially employed as Technical Director of the club’s academy but now is in charge of the senior team following the departure of the former Head Coach George Lwandamina who resigned his coaching duties.
For More News And Analysis About Tanzania Follow Africa-Press
