AfricaPress-Tanzania: SIMBA Head Coach, Didier Gomes has said that their forthcoming CAF Champions League’s date with Congolese AS Vita is unpredictable but insisted that winning at home is their first priority.
The country’s flag bearers have closed in on quarterfinals of the continental club tournament, but need a point to confirm their place in the last eight.
Simba had a brave performance in their previous assignment after they thrashed Sudanese Al-Merrikh 3-0 at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam in a fortnight.
First half goals from Luis Miquissone and skipper Mohammed Hussein coupled with a second half strike from Chris Mugalu handed the home side three vital points and a ninth consecutive unbeaten match on home soil in the continental competition.
And, this encourages the Frenchman that his lads are keen enough to extend their winning spree and most importantly, to move on into a crucial stage.
“We need to secure home points and comfortably move on, short of which, it will be difficult for us to achieve our dream,” he was quoted as saying.
“I have told my players that we ought to win against AS Vita for our assurance to the next level of the competition,” he said.
Simba, who will retain their key players from Taifa Stars at the end of this month after concluding their key 2022 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Qualifiers’ date with Libya on March 28th, will play AS Vita in Dar es Salaam on April 3.
Simba are on top of group A with ten points, three ahead of second placed Egyptian giants Al Ahly, who also beat AS Vita 3-0 in their previous assignment. AS Vita have also bagged up four points as Al-Merrikh are tail ender with a single point.
However, Simba will probably face a tough challenge for the victory seeking AS Vita, who also needs to win to be among serious contenders for the quarterfinal place.
Should they win, they will earn seven points with one match on their hand for their possibility to bag ten points if they win them all. After playing Simba, their next match will be against Al-Merrikh on April 9.
The club’s Head Coach, Jean-Florent Ikwange Ibenge said that they face a ‘must win’ situation for them to avoid packing up their bags.
“We actually need to win all of our two remaining matches to be a 100 per cent secure. But our sailing will also depend on results of other group-mates,” he said.
The 21-time Tanzania Mainland League champions are the only team in Group A yet to concede a goal and will be hoping to extend their record when they host the Black Dolphins on Saturday, April 3.
