AfricaPress-Tanzania: FOLLOWING a sound 1-0 victory over Al Ahly in the CAF Champions League group stage on Tuesday, Simba Head Coach Didier Gomes Da Rosa claimed picking six points from two games is exceptional.
Simba battered the Champions League’s defending champions courtesy of a solitary strike from Louis Miquissone which sparked the giant Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam as Simba fans witnessed their club tearing apart the football powerhouse of Africa.
It was a splendid performance from the country’s envoys who showed resilience from the first to last minute never giving the visitors a space to breathe and in the end, putting them on a sword.
In the end, the pocketed 3 points drove Simba at the top of their group A with 6 points from two matches followed by AS Vita who on the same day, pounded El-Merrikh 4-1 in Khartoum.
Al Ahly are third on the ladder with three points similar to AS Vita but the latter have scored few goals (3) than the former (4) while the bottom placed El-Merrikh are without any point and have netted one goal in two games.
“I am very happy and pleased because Al Ahly is a big team. Today (Tuesday) we have shown our ability everywhere in the run so we are satisfied because it was a big match we played. “We had our weak moments during the match but we stayed compact and I think we deserved the win. Getting six points is very important for the future. We now need to start thinking about our next game against El-Merrikh, I know it will be difficult,” said him.
His midfielder Thadeo Lwanga added that the secret for their triumph was to press hard Al Ahly and never give them space to play and dominate the game.
“Outside the pitch, we respect them but on the battlefield, it is eleven against eleven players such that whoever plays good win the match at the end,” Lwanga, who had a glittering match on the day explained.
On his part, Al Ahly Coach Pitso Mosimane congratulated Simba for the win but said they still have four games to play in the group stages hence progressing into the last eight is achievable.
“We played against a good team which played very well in the first half, it took us a little bit of time to adapt especially due to the weather. In the second half, the temperature dropped a bit and we were ok. “We had our chances that we did not take. In these kind of games, you need to take at least one chance. It is not all about tactics, but also the conditions. If we played at night, it could be good for football,” he said.
Despite sitting third in their group with three points, behind AS Vita Club on goal difference, the Red Devils still have a big chance of advancing to the next stage.
They will need seven or eight points from their next four games in order to keep their title defending campaign alive. Al Ahly’s next game in the CAF Champions League will see them host AS Vita Club in Cairo on March 5
