Africa-Press – Tanzania. Simba Head Coach Pablo Franco dedicated their heavy 7-0 win to the former Ruvu Shooting defender Ally Sonso who passed away recently in Dar es Salaam.
The Msimbazi Street Reds handed Ruvu Shooting a seven-goal blitz to squeeze into the quarterfinals of Azam Sports Federation Cup (ASFC) at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday night.
The outcome saw Simba scoring a total of 16 goals in their three successive matches in all competitions beginning with a 6-0 thumping of Dar City in the ASFC round of 32 duel before flattering ASEC Mimosas 3-1 in the CAF Confederation Cup group stage fixture and a recent 7-0 humiliation of Ruvu Shooting.
They seem to have now found the lost keys to unlock opponents’ backline a quality they lacked in their previous NBC Premier League matches and are now remorselessly pumping more goals to their name.
On target for Simba were skipper John Bocco who netted a brace after missing out on the scoreboard for an extended period, Clatous Chama scored a hat-trick while substitute Jimmyson Mwanuke contributed one goal for the massive win of his side.
Ruvu Shooting defender Michael Masinda scored an own goal to add to Simba’s tally to make the match even more difficult for them thereby exiting the competition with a humiliating defeat.
“Unfortunately, Dilunga has a very big knee injury and I am sorry to him. For Ruvu Shooting, it was a special day to them because it was the first day they were playing after their player (Sonso) passed away and I want to dedicate this victory to him and also to Dilunga,” said Franco at a post match briefing.
He added that Dilunga is probably not going to play for a long time because of his picked knee injury and he wished him a quick recovery to get back on the pitch stronger.
Again, the Spanish trainer disclosed that striker Chris Mugalu remains a doubt if he is going to travel with the team for their away confederation cup fixture while Larry Bwalya was permitted to go home to attend a funeral of his brother.
For Ugandan midfielder Taddeo Lwanga, the coach said he is improving a lot but he is not sure if he will get some playing time in their upcoming duels of which he forecasted to be very difficult.
In his reaction after succumbing to the heavy loss, Ruvu Shooting Information Officer Masau Bwire said their sombre mood they still have for losing their player (Sonso) was one of the factors contributing to the misery.
“A week has hardly passed following his death as such; our players were still mourning him as he used to be too close to them and played for the team successfully.
“The other thing which has resulted to this painful defeat is lack of respect that our players failed to give to Simba. They thought it will be a simple match to them and that their opponents are harmless something which turned out to be the opposite,” Bwire said.
A complete set of eight teams which have cruised into the ASFC quarterfinals are Yanga, Simba, Azam, Geita Gold, Kagera Sugar, Pamba, Polisi Tanzania and Coastal Union.
Pamba are the only side representing the First League as such, people are eager to see how far they can go in the competition.
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