Africa-Press – Tanzania. SIMBA Head Coach Sven Vandenbroeck will be in test to rescue his club, following the first leg defeat over FC Platinum at National Sports Stadium in Harare; where he has devoted to do better in the return leg.
He asserted these shortly after the game against Platinum in which Simba lost 1-0 away, where he held an emergency meeting with his players at the hotel setting out a rematch plan to be played in the next two weeks in Dar es Salaam.
“I’m not happy with the results because we didn’t deserve to lose, we dominated the game especially in the first half but we didn’t have focus whilst attacking. They managed to score and now we have to be careful on the return leg,” said Head Coach Sven Vandenbroeck.
The Belgian tactician could be in for a tough time if he fails to take Simba to the group stage.
In 2019/20 season Simba’s management terminated Patrick Aussems contract following a poor performance in those competitions.
Simba failed to pass the preliminary stage after losing on the away goals rule to UD Songo of Mozambique. Whereas prior to that season Simba managed to reach in the Quarter-finals under Aussems supervision.
Simba’s down memory has always been 1974 when Simba managed to get in the semifinals but were knocked out by Ghazl El Mahalla through penalty shots.
The club has since vowed that their target is to reach in the semifinals of the CAF CL in order to break their own record they stamped in 2018 where they reached into the quarterfinals of the hot football competition on the continent.
Platinum on their side had the best record in CAF Champions League in 2018/19 and 2019/20 season completing in the group stage.
Platinum are the Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League defending champions, they collected 62 points after pocketing 17 wins, 11 draws and lost six times.
Simba have made it a point to play in the Champions’ League group stage but even if they lose the result in the replay, they will have another ticket to the group stages of the Confederations Cup.
The squad expects to return today after completing the first leg game of Champions League, for Sunday’s game against Majimaji in the third round match of the Azam Federation Cup (ASFC) at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium.
Thus, the defending champions will begin their campaign to retain the title for the second consecutive season.
