THE status of Tanzania national team skipper, Mbwana Samatta has m ade a sky-high leap globally following his brilliant scoring skills at Aston Villa.
As reported by the official website of his current club, Samatta has joined elite company after becoming the fifth African footballer in history to score a goal in a League Cup final.
Samatta scored the consolation goal for his Aston Villa side in their 2-1 loss to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday at Wembley Stadium in London.
He has since joined other decorated footballers from the continent after Didier Drogba (four), Joseph-Désiré Job, Obafemi Martins and Yaya Touré.
Through their official web page on Sunday, Aston Villa wrote: “The striker joined elite company today by becoming just the fifth African footballer in history to a goal in a League Cup final.”
It was the second goal for Samatta in all competitions after opening his goal account against Bournemouth in the English Premier League (EPL) in which his side surrendered 2-1.
However, the Aston Villa striker and Tanzania national team skipper revealed his admiration for African legend Didier Drogba and Tottenham Hotspur star Harry Kane when it comes to positioning and scoring.
The 27-year-old moved to the Premier League on a four-and-a-half-year deal in January after a successful stint in the Belgian First Division A with Genk.
Over the years, the 27-year-old has proved his goalscoring stint by clinching the 2015 Caf Champions League top scorer award at TP Mazembe and the Belgian top-flight Golden Shoe in the 2018-19 campaign with 23 goals.
However, before his first outing at Wembley against Manchester City in Sunday’s League Cup final, Samatta shared a secret on how he improves his game with video clips.
“Before games, I used to always watch videos of top strikers. Every time it used to be Didier Drogba. Then it was Harry Kane. I’ve watched him a lot; How he positions himself.
And most of the time when he gets the ball he’s just thinking about shooting,” the Tanzanian told the Guardian.
He recalled some great players who have played in the Premier League including Manchester United’s David Beckham and Arsenal’s Thierry Henry that made England a dream destination for him. “It was always my dream to play in the Premier League.
In Tanzania, it is our favourite competition,” Samatta continued. “I liked Manchester United because of David Beckham.
Then came Cristiano Ronaldo but I sometimes switched to Thierry Henry because I liked how he played. And Didier Drogba, that was the guy I looked at the most.
I wanted to play like him and I tried to adapt and copy his running and stuff.” Since his arrival, Samatta has scored a goal in four games for Aston Villa.
