AfricaPress-Tanzania: NATIONAL team, Taifa Stars skipper Mbwana Samatta will be hoping to guide his Aston Villa side to success as they face Chelsea in a hot English Premier League (EPL) match at Villa Park today.
It will be the second consecutive home game for Aston Villa after recording a goalless draw in their past encounter against Sheffield United hence winning over the Blues will be good news for them.
From 29 games, Aston Villa are 19th on the table with 26 points, which is not that good position to be as far as relegation battle is concerned as such, they need to win most of their incoming league matches to stay put in the contest next season.
However, speaking on Villa TV recently, the Tanzanian forward pointed out why it was special to score in the Carabao Cup against Manchester City at Wembley Stadium on March 1st. He also revealed what captain Jack Grealish promised him before the match.
“It was fantastic to score because, before the game, Jack Grealish came to me and said ‘If you score today, you will be a legend and I was like wow this is amazing if I can score’,” the former TP Mazembe striker said.
“I had never played at Wembley before, the stadium is big with a lot of supporters and given that it was a final game, it was simply amazing to score there. “Grealish is the best player I have played alongside. He is fantastic and all know that.” Samatta said.
Asked which is his favourite moment as a Villa player, Samatta stated it was during their 3-2 loss to Tottenham Hotspurs in February.
“My favourite moment, I think is the first half of the game against Tottenham where we played very well and we should have won the game in the first half because we created the chances. We were on top of them,” added the Taifa Stars skipper.
Although he has scored a number of goals for Simba SC, TP Mazembe, KRC Genk and Aston Villa, the 27-year-old striker mentioned his goal he scored for Taifa Stars against Algeria in 2015 as his best.
“I will go with a goal I scored for Tanzania when we were playing against Algeria,” Samatta said of a goal that helped Taifa Stars draw against the North African nation. “There is a big difference between Algeria and Tanzania but we managed to draw that game 2-2 and my goal was amazing because I dribbled past a few players before I could score. “It was a nice one. I am proud to represent my country. It is always a good feeling to achieve one’s dream. I am proud to be here (Aston Villa) and representing my country too.”
