FEVER has gripped fans and teams here as Tanzania football giants; Simba and Young Africans head for their Mapinduzi Cup\u2019s opening matches in Pemba and Zanzibar respectively today.<\/p>\n
Yanga who test this year\u2019s tournament by facing Jamhuri at Amaan Stadium here, are optimistic to win the 13th edition after missing it last year.<\/p>\n
The team\u2019s manager Abeid Mziba said here yesterday during a press conference at Z anzibar Football Federation\u2019s offices that they have a formidable squad that can easily overpower any team.<\/p>\n
He said they play Jamhuri, one of Yanga\u2019s friends from Zanzibar, but that friendship will be put aside today when executing their duties.<\/p>\n
” Jamhuri are our close Isles relatives, we respect them, but we won\u2019t spare them when on the pitch. We want to win the match and advance,\u201d said Mziba.<\/p>\n
Commenting on the newly introduced knock out format, Mziba said it is better than the league format for the winners, but bitter to the losers.<\/p>\n
On his side, Jamhuri FC skipper Mohamed Juma Mohamed said they are well drilled for today\u2019s challenge and hopes his team to get positive results.<\/p>\n
He said they want to revenge against the team that handed them a heavy defeat last year. \u201cWe conceded a big number of goals last year, our opponents should not think it will be the same this year,\u201d said the skipper.<\/p>\n
Supporting the skipper, Jamhuri FC Coach Mustafa Seif Suleiman said it will be a fierce battle, but his gallant would emerge victors at the end.<\/p>\n
Jamhuri suffered a 6-0 loss to Yanga when the teams met at Amaan Stadium here last year.<\/p>\n
In retrospect, the match between Simba and Zimamoto at Gombani Stadium in Pemba has also been a big talk in various areas of the Zanzibar and Pemba.<\/p>\n
Zimamoto Head Coach Hassan Abdulrahman said he expected a tough encounter against Simba, but he believes his boys would emerge victors at the end of tense 90 minutes.<\/p>\n
Simba, who firmly hold the Mainland Premier League\u2019s helm are pooled in a group B whose matches are staged at Gombani Stadium in Pemba.<\/p>\n
The coach told reporters here that the knockout format would serve his team well by kicking out Simba out of this year\u2019s Mapinduzi Cup race.<\/p>\n
He, however, admitted he was going to face one of the best teams in the region; hence they will play a cautious game to ensure they win at the end.<\/p>\n
Zimamoto, like Simba are in a group B alongside Chipukizi and Mtibwa, who played their yesterday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
FEVER has gripped fans and teams here as Tanzania football giants; Simba and Young Africans head for their Mapinduzi Cup\u2019s opening matches in Pemba and Zanzibar respectively today. Yanga who test this year\u2019s tournament by facing Jamhuri at Amaan Stadium here, are optimistic to win the 13th edition after missing it last year. The team\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":1517,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,17],"tags":[1053,958,829],"class_list":["post-1516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-sport","tag-abeid-mziba","tag-giants","tag-mapinduzi-cup"],"yoast_head":"\n