Africa-Press – Tanzania. SIMBA Head Coach Pablo Franco has dedicated their qualification into the CAF Confederation Cup (CAFCC) group stage to club’s fans who descended at the Heroes Stadium in Zambia to cheer the team on Sunday.
Simba, the country’s envoys in the Interclub games marched into the last 16 of the competition with a 4-2 aggregate win over Red Arrows despite losing 2-1 in the return leg match.
However, speaking after the tense encounter, the Spanish trainer could not help but shower praises on Simba supporters who crossed borders to rally behind their team.
“I want to thank Simba fans, for me it is amazing that we are playing very far from home and they are here with us. They have been with us during training sessions, at the hotel and throughout the match.
“I say thank you to them because they have made a great effort and this qualification if for them and I hope to see them in other upcoming Simba games,” said Franco who stretched his unbeaten run at the club in all competitions to four games.
His skipper John Bocco, who was introduced in the late stages of the match replacing Meddie Kagere, also blessed Simba fans who travelled from Dar es Salaam and those who reside in Zambia for their immense support.
“We thank them for this loyal treatment they have given us. After crossing the boundaries, we now focus on the games we will play in the group stages in order to continue doing well,” Bocco said.
Likewise, the team’s full back Mohamed Hussein commended their supporters saying they helped a lot to give them energy especially when they were trailing by two goals to nil.
“To be honest, playing away from home with such massive support from our fans is a big thing. We have nothing to pay them back as such, our appreciation will be to do well in other upcoming fixtures since the primary target to venture into the group stage has been achieved,” he said.
However, the club’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Barbara Gonzalez said she was very disappointed with the performance of the team on the day but hailed the fighting spirit of the players until the last second of the game.
“We need to have fresh ideas prior to our next match (traditional derby versus Young Africans) and polish the squad which we will deploy on the day by having good strategies. Honestly, how we played today was not so impressive,” she said.
On his part, Red Arrows coach Chisi Mbewe was convinced with the way his team played despite making an exit.
“I think we lost our chance of qualifying in Tanzania where we played at a wet pitch plus poor officiating and here, the weather was conducive and we wanted them (Simba) to show us their stars but as you saw, we dictated terms,” he said.
Meanwhile, complimentary messages have been pouring in from various places for the success recorded by Simba as they expect to parade in the confederation cup for the first time in the club’s history.
The Ministry for Culture, Arts and Sports as well as the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) are among the entities which have extended their acknowledgement for Simba’s remarkable achievement.
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