AfricaPress-Tanzania: Simba SC have said that they are on another level and that their opponents should accept that fact.
Simba have recorded massive achievement in their qualification for CAF Champions League quarterfinal, being among first clubs to reach that level from group stage as giants sides are struggling with others like former Africa Champions TP Mazembe failing.
The Msimbazi giants continued with their good run in the competition after they recently hammered AS Vita Club of the Democratic Republic of the Congo 4-1 to secure their quarter-final spot with a game to spare.
The game at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium saw Simba score their goals through Luis Miquissone, Clatous Chama (2), and Larry Bwalya, to make sure they are still unbeaten in Group A despite being drawn alongside African champions Al Ahly from Egypt, AS Vita, and Al Merrikh from Sudan.
Simba will now wind up their group matches with a clash against Al Ahly, whom they beat 1-0 at home earlier in the competition.
Any results will not change anything from Simba’s qualification, but victory will rather add much respect to the country’s flag bearers should they beat again the Egyptians at their home soil.
The club’s Media Officer Haji Manara has stated their rival clubs must accept they are riding on a different level and they should not be surprised when they see the team performing well in the Caf competition.
“It is the right time for rival clubs to accept Simba are the best team in Africa at the moment,” Manara wrote on his social media pages.
“The rival clubs must also know we have done enough to build this team and have it reach where it is. “We have done a lot of investment in quality signings, we have the best squad currently, they should also know we have a coach of high qualities, with a lot of experience when it comes to African football.”
Reacting to their 4-1 defeat, AS Vita Club coach Florent Ibenge has claimed Simba SC’s good run in the Caf Champions League is a result of having money to buy more quality players than his team can afford.
Ibenge showered praise on Simba after the game, insisting the Tanzanian giants are currently among the best teams in Africa and they deserved to progress to the quarters of the competition, and further said Tanzanian clubs have money to buy quality players and hence they can go far.
Simba, who are topping their group with 13 points, will finish their matches with an away game against Al Ahly on April 9 in Cairo.
The club’s French coach, Didier Gomes has cherished his boys’ good run in the tournament, saying that Simba have now grown into a big team and that they should celebrate the achievement attained so far.
The French tactician also called on Simba fans to celebrate the team’s latest achievement by stating they are now among the best teams in Africa, said he was impressed by the way his team dismantled AS Vita.
“It is time for us to celebrate for bravely penetrating into quarterfinals,” he was quoted as saying by the club official page. “It will be interesting to play with our best team against Al Ahly in Cairo because we are now a big team in Africa and also we must prove that we can do better away even against Al Ahly,” he said.
Simba shocked African football by beating the reigning African champions, Al-Ahly 1-0 at home and continued to record unbeaten record in the group stage.
