AfricaPress-Tanzania: TANZANIAN envoys Simba host AS Vita of Democratic Republic of Congo in a tense CAF Champions League match at Benjamin Mkapa stadium in Dar es Salaam today.
It is a tense match as the win or draw for the hosts assures them a place in the tournament’s quarter while their opponents, with only four points in their bag need to win at any cost to see them sail to quarters.
Tension has been intensified by the fact that AS Vita have been lucky to grab all four points outside Kinshasa, something that drives them to maintain the run even in Dar es Salaam.
Simba who have neither lost nor conceded a match in their four previous outings must approach the game cautiously as they are playing against a team that has been doing well in away venues.
Despite the good away record, Simba are reportedly confident to overcome the Congolese threat as the team’s head coach Didier Gomes said recently, Simba have developed a strategy that will ensure them a victory.
The French tactician has promised an attack-minded game, stating that his players will not play a defensive game. Simba require a draw on either of their remaining games (AS Vita and Al Ahly) to advance in the quarterfinals.
Simba have bagged 10 points in their four games they have so far played in group; Al Ahly are placed second after collecting seven points; at the third are AS Vita with four points while at the bottom are Al Merrikh with one point.
The Frenchman said he was delighted to see a few of his players who went to serve their national teams, in the African Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers are back.
The players include the Tanzanian national team players, Zambian stars Clatous Chama and Rally Bwalya; and Malawi national team defender Peter Muduhwa.
Chama and Bwalya were part of the Zambian national team squad for the Afcon 2021 qualifiers. He insisted they will have less time to make final preparations.
“As part of our preparations we will use videotapes to study and preview their game tactic. “Personally I have watched videos of our opponents’ matches and there are things I have noticed but now I want to show my players so they know what to do within 90 minutes of the game against AS Vita,” said Gomes.
The AS Vita convoy of 33 players including staff and their team leaders has arrived together with their head coach Florent Ibenge. Vita will miss Djuma Shabani who is the club captain; he will miss today’s match due to injury.
Shabani suffered injuries during practice with his club. The absence of such a key player could be a blow to AS Vita and an advantage for Simba. Shabani had an excellent performance despite his team’s 1-0 loss to Simba in Kinshasa.
After today’s encounter Simba will travel to Egypt to play their last encounter against Al Ahly. In the first encounter Simba won 1-0 in Dar es Salaam. Victory for Simba is an important milestone in the success of Tanzanian football.
If Simba win they will set a record of reaching the quarter-finals for the fourth time. Meanwhile, the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) has confirmed that CAF has allowed a game between Simba and AS Vita to be attended by 10,000 fans.
“The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has allowed Simba to take in 10,000 fans in their match against AS Vita at the request of TFF,” the TFF said in a statement.
