Author: BENJAMIN BEN
AfricaPress-Tanzania: AZAM will be eyeing to regain the pilot seat of the top flight league when they host Dodoma FC at Azam Complex in Dar es Salaam today.
A victory to Azam will see them leapfrogging Young Africans who ascended to the top of the pyramid despite being held to a goalless draw by Gwambina FC at Gwambina Complex in Mwanza on Tuesday.
The draw pushed Yanga to the helm of the 18-team table with 23 points while Azam are second on the ladder with 22 points; hence they have a golden chance to regain the top seat if they emerge victors this evening.
Azam’s splendid start of the season was spoiled at Jamhuri Stadium in Morogoro when they suffered a 1-0 loss to Mtibwa Sugar who also ended their eight-game’s unbeaten run.
Again, to make it worse, they later stamped a scoreless draw with JKT Tanzania in their recent game at Azam Complex, hence gathering one point from six maximum points.
Drawing the line from the two games, pundits were divided on the notion as to whether the ice cream makers have what it takes to win the title at the end of the season or not.
On the other side, Dodoma FC are not underdogs despite losing three games in their nine matches of the league.
Sitting on 10th slot with 12 points, they too consider this encounter as crucial for them to bag maximum points and be able to represent well the capital city. In their previous battle, Dodoma lost 1-0 to Namungo at Majaliwa Stadium in Ruangwa, Lindi as such; they need to stamp a triumph to regain the winning track.
Immediately after stepping into the top flight contest this season, Dodoma FC were deemed as one of the new comers capable to bring the much needed competition, but so far, they seem to have not yet get used to the league pressure.
They did well in the First Division League (FDL) hence people are eager to see them bringing their FDL potential into the elite contest or else, they will be among the sides to fight hard to prevent relegation at the end of the campaign.
Meanwhile, Azam’s Zimbabwean international Prince Dube has been named in a 24-man squad of Zimbabwe for their Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Algeria this month. Zimbabwe will be away at the July 5 Stadium in Algiers on November 12 and then host Algeria in Harare four days later.
The Confederation of African Football had previously banned the National Stadium in the Zimbabwe capital but after renovations it has now been passed ready for use.
The matches are the first competitive action for Zimbabwe’s Zdravko Logarusic, who was appointed in January.
Dube’s Zimbabwean colleagues in the ice-cream makers club, Bruce Kangwa and Never Tigere were not included in Logarusic’s squad for the two qualifiers games.
