Africa-Press – Tanzania. YOUNG Africans have been packed in group C of the forthcoming CECAFA Kagame Cup 2021 together with Nyasa Big Bullets (Malawi) and Express FC (Uganda) in a seemingly difficult category group.
The Tanzanian envoys who have won the tournament five times will be trying to win it for the sixth time and equal the record of their traditional rivals, Simba who have grabbed it 6th times.
The competition which has attracted nine teams is slated to commence on August 1st to 15th in Dar es Salaam hence another opportunity for football fans to enjoy an international contest prior to the next season’s Mainland Premier League.
Another country’s envoys Azam are in group B alongside Atlabara FC (South Sudan) and Tusker FC (Kenya) while Zanzibar champions KMKM are bagged in group A with Le Messenger Ngozi FC (Burundi) and Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) from Uganda.
Both Yanga and Azam will use the competition to test their arsenal prior to their international duels next season whereby the former and Simba will parade in the Champions League while the latter together with Biashara United will trade in CAF Confederation Cup.
For Azam, the Kagame Cup will be a good platform to weigh their squad as most of their newly signed domestic and foreign based players have already descended at the club ready to offer their contributions.
The Chamazi-based club have lately accomplished deals of five players of whom four are from outside the country and one of them a Tanzanian.
They are Charles Zulu, Rodgers Kola, Kenneth Muguna, Edward Manyama and Paul Katema with all cleared to begin working for Azam in their upcoming fixtures. In his remarks recently, Azam Information Officer Thabit Zakaria said they are progressing well with preparations for the Kagame cup and that their motive is to win the title.
“We do not just want to participate but rather to compete that is why we are ready to feature the full squad. If we had other motive apart from winning the title, we could not have agreed to be part of the contest. “We respect the tournament; we respect all the competing teams, organisers and people who will spare their precious time to watch the games. Wining the CECAFA title means you will be giving your fans an international trophy,” said Zakaria.
Commenting on the elapsed season, Zakaria said they had a successful season even though some of their objectives were not amicably achieved as they planned.
The teams confirmed in the race for Kagame Cup diadem are Yanga, Azam (Tanzania), Atlabara FC (South Sudan), Le Messenger Ngozi FC (Burundi), KCCA FC, Express FC (Uganda), Tusker (Kenya), KMKM SC (Zanzibar) and Big Bullets (Malawi).
