AfricaPress-Tanzania: THE explosive nature of the traditional derby encounter involving two oldest football clubs in the country Young Africans and Simba seem to be wearing a new face each time the two sides meet.
It should be noted that every day, these two teams which dominate the country’s football do generate new supporters who start rallying behind them as such, the love is passed from one generation to another hence, there is no way that the vibe which they bring will be replaced soon.
As the number of fans who go for Yanga and Simba increases, the popularity of them also doubles that is why there is a saying that without Simba, Yanga cannot flourish and vice versa.
In view of these, the Kariakoo-based giants are both ready to splash a lot of money to build competitive squads capable of dominating one another whenever they meet; that is why they believe that whenever one of them has won the title without stamping a victory over the other in the concerned season, the championship is never sweet.
Yes, this is a culture which has been cultivated by these big clubs which to a big extent helps to bring the demanded derby atmosphere to millions of football fans countrywide.
For instance, last season, Simba, despite being declared Premier League champions, they only managed to source one point from the two reverse traditional derby matches they played as the first battle elapsed 2-2 while the second duel saw Yanga producing a 1-0 success.
This scenario gave Yanga a talking point as they used to say their opponents got the title from other teams on the league log and not necessarily by hammering them, but in reality, it was a painful blow for them to miss the title for the third consecutive season.
However, Simba cherished the title, but they could have double cerebrated if they had managed to outclass their long time city rivals and this could be repeated this season as already, the first meeting between them produced no real winner.
The only difference about last season’s derby meetings was that on both occasions, Simba were above Yanga on the ladder in terms of garnered points, but this season, during their first clash, Yanga were already ahead their rivals with five points.
As usual, the recently played derby was one of the epic ones which attracted attention of many people no wonder, businesses are temporarily affected in the country to pave the way for the classic match to unfold.
The pressure was both from within and outside the pitch to the extent that after the sweaty 90 minutes of play, even renowned leaders from the two teams exchanged some words not in a harsh way, but rather, panicky.
Another subject which made headlines after the game was accusation remarks made by a well-known sport person in the country Hans Pope who openly pointed fingers at three Simba players for performing below their usual standards.
He named them as Clatous Chama, Louis Miquissone and Larry Bwalya saying the trio did not showcase what they usually do during other matches, a situation which has made many people to raise eyebrows about accusations.
Most pundits have negatively reacted to the made accusations saying a man of his calibre was not supposed to make such comments as it can have a bad perception to the targeted players.
On a tactical side, as Simba readies to begin their CAF Champions League (CAF CL) duels later this month, it is clear that the game against Yanga has helped them to know which areas they ought to strength to shine in the lucrative contest.
This is so because they will be facing with more Tuisila Kisindas, Mukoko Tonombes and other decorated players of Class A who are able to give their team x-factor for the sake of getting victories.
Surely, after the Yanga match, Simba will not be exposed to another hot duel capable to give them the deserved challenge prior to the CAF CL mission.
As such, at this juncture, Simba technical bench should keenly go through the derby encounter to identify those areas they think the team played below the required standards and provide the necessary solution.
However, it is good to see that after many years of their existence, the giant teams are now waking up from the snoring sleep which kept them behind as far as development is concerned.
All these years almost 80 years, none of the two clubs succeed to even own a portable training facility until in this century when Simba have taken a leading role to have their own training centre which is a plausible step they have make.
For Yanga, they are yet to own a training facility to go along with how old the club is as such, the fast they accomplish that, the better it will be for them since they will be channelling the money used to hire training venue to other important sectors of the club.
