AfricaPress-Tanzania: TAIFA Stars skipper, Mbwana Samatta said life for him is never the same again due to the prevailing Covid-19 lockdown in many parts of the world, saying football players have been highly affected.
Samatta, who pursues his professional career in the English Premier League (EPL) with Aston Villa, has so far contributed two goals for his new side after four appearances before the league was suspended indefinitely as a precaution measure to contain the spread of coronavirus.
Speaking recently via a YouTube platform from Birmingham, Samatta insisted that staying at home throughout the day has completely changed his life.
“For us football players, we have been hardly hit by the ongoing lockdown to the extent that we cannot go out to do our jobs. I need to go to the ground, train with my teammates and play matches but that is not the case now,” he said.
He however said as a professional player, he is still engaged in various training programmes given to them by their instructors during this period.
“We were given training programmes to fulfill by our trainers and I am doing that in order to keep fit when the league restarts. The best thing now is to be safe from this pandemic, which I believe that it will soon be defeated,” he said.
Samatta was due to lead Taifa Stars for the first time since moving to EPL against Tunisia in group J of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers before they were cancelled due to Covid-19 threat.
Until now, Stars remain third in the group with three points similar to second placed Libya are separated by goal difference, while Tunisia lead the group with six points from two matches. Equatorial Guinea are fourth placed winless and without a point.
Samatta became the first Tanzanian to play in EPL and has a big load to help his team from being relegated this season as they currently sit 19 on the table with 25 points from 28 matches.
They are four points above bottom placed Norwich City, who have garnered 21 points in their 29 games and they also need to scale up their efforts to remain in the contest next season. Samatta made his EPL debut against Bournemouth when he scored his first goal with a piercing header despite losing 2-1.
Again, he scored the only goal for his side in their 2-1 loss against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup finals at Wembley Stadium in London, which was a big achievement for him as far as his football career, is concerned.
