Africa-Press – Tanzania. SIMBA Head Coach Didier Gomez has hailed his team’s encounter with TP Mazembe as good test match ahead of the CAF Champions League game against Jwaneng Galaxy of Botswana next month.
Simba will begin their CAF inter-club competition at Jwaneng Galaxy’s home at Botswana National Stadium; next month, the encounter will take place on the 15th.
A week later, they will play a return leg match at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium. If Simba overcome the Galaxy hurdle they will advance into the groups’ stage, and if they lose they will be demoted to CAF Confederation Cup’s playoff.
“The performance shows we have to improve to do better in the Champions League and the next Saturday’s match against Young Africans in the Community Shield. We have to work hard to rectify some mistakes; I am completely sure we are going to do a great thing next season.”
He also applauded TP Mazembe for a good game, for they had shown a reasonable and competitive match that had enabled him to evaluate the quality of his squad and where to improve to make it achieve the target they had set.
Gomez said this after the end of a friendly match between Simba SC and TP Mazembe, in which his charges lost 1-0.
The match was one of the activities staged during the climax of Simba Day festival at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium over the weekend.
For his part, the TP Mazembe coach explained that the game has been excellent and important for his team as Simba are among the best teams.
He also explained that, despite their victory, it was an excellent opportunity for his team to watch the new youngsters, who showed great maturity.
“The victory against Simba was great because Simba is a good team with good players. It was a prestigious and essential game. We have new players with a lot of experience. Through these kinds of games, our players build bonds and connections.”
Apart from the defeat Simba Day festival was a beehive of activities that overwhelmingly rocked Benjamin Mkapa Stadium during the climax of Simba Day festival in Dar es Salaam.
Thrilling football matches and cultural performance and breath-taking musical performances added a dimension to the beauty of this year’s Simba Day.
It was a unique event as Benjamin Mkapa Stadium, which was filled to its 60,000 capacity and fans estimated to over 20,000 with tickets missed.
This calls for a construction of an arena with capacity to accommodate more than 60,000 fans.
The event’s surprise package was the presence of Emanuel Okwi, the Ugandan import who steered reforms in the team’s professionalism.
Okwi said later that he was thrilled to be invited to this year’s Simba Day and thanked the club’s management and fans for their everlasting trust in him.
