Africa-Press – Tanzania. SIMBA have declared the end of their pre-season drills saying the team is expected to return to Dar es Salaam tomorrow prior to facing TP Mazembe in an international friendly match.
The game pegged on Sunday at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium here, is part of activities to mark the climax of the ‘Simba Week’ festival which usually brings together the club’s members and fans from across the country.
Among other events which roll out on the day, include a parade of players who will be part of the squad throughout next season hence a chance to physically see them parading in front of their eyes.
Speaking yesterday, Simba’s Acting Information Officer Ezekiel Kamwaga said for now, all their focus is on the upcoming international squad weighing encounter.
“We expect them (TP Mazembe) to arrive on Saturday afternoon ready for the game. To our part, all preparations that we planned to have are done and Coach Didier Gomes has expressed his satisfaction on the way the pre-season unfolded.
“People should expect to see a different Simba from the one they used to witness in the past seasons. The good thing is that we are facing TP Mazembe who are also just returning back from their pre-season drills held in Morocco,” Kamwaga said.
In terms of how people are turning in to purchase entry tickets for the big day, Kamwaga said they are impressed with the way people are buying them while unveiling that Platinum tickets sold at 200,000/- each are over.
“We have sold all Platinum tickets and the available ones are those for VIP A, B, C and ordinary seats which are still being sold. People should buy tickets in advance to avoid congestion on the final day,” he urged.
He also said coach Gomes has been fully convinced with the way they conducted the pre-season both in Morocco and Arusha such that he is confident with his charges to perform good job next season.
The Reds played their final pre-season game on Tuesday in Arusha against Aigle Noir from Burundi of which the former won 2-1 to wind up their preparations on a positive note.
Goals from Bernard Morrison and former Mbeya City striker Kibu Denis were enough to give Simba the victory as they look forward to the 2021/22 Community Shield match against Young Africans on September 25th.
Fever is slowly gripping up ahead of the heavyweight traditional derby encounter which normally put the country on a standstill for 90 minutes as it draws huge attraction from many people in the country.
According to the recently released 2021/22 top flight league fixture, Simba will begin their title defense against Biashara United at Karume Stadium in Mara on September 28th before playing Dodoma Jiji at Jamhuri Stadium on October 1st.
