Bring on Yanga: Majimaji coach

Dar es Salaam. Mainland giants Young Africans should not expect a win on a silver platter when they take on Majimaji on Saturday, says the Ruvuma-based team’s coach, Habib Kondo.

Kondo said yesterday that his men were in high spirits, raring to give the defending champions a run for their money in the Mainland Premier League match at the Majimaji Stadium in Songea.

“Obviously it will be a very tough match, but we have time to prepare accordingly,” Kondo told The Citizen by phone from Songea.

“In the Mainland Premier League, you always face two or three teams that boast formidable squads. In this instance, we have Yanga and Simba.”

But he was clearly relishing the tussle: “If we get our act together, we can upset one of them. On a good day, we can beat any team in the league.

“We just need to believe in ourselves. Take it from me, we will notch up our first win of the season at the expense of Yanga,” he said confidently.

His Yanga counterpart George Lwandamina predicted a tough match but remained optimistic that it will produce positive results for the Jangwani Street team.

After squeezing a 1-0 win over Njombe Mji in Njombe last weekend, Yanga are also in dire need of maximum points in Saturday’s match to remain serious contenders for the title.

They sit fourth in the league table with four points after two games, three points ahead of Majimaji who are placed 12th.

The title-holders tie on four points with leaders Mtibwa Sugar, second-placed Simba and Tanzania Prisons, but they are behind on goal difference.

Simba, who battled to a barren draw with Azam FC last weekend, should also face a tricky task as Shinyanga’s Mwadui FC have vowed to put them at bay in their league match this weekend.

Mwadui, who sit eighth in the league standings with three points, will confront the Msimbazi Reds at the Uhuru Stadium.

Mwadui coach Khalid Adam said yesterday they are well prepared for the match.

“Simba are a strong team. We are aware that they will have on board a number of star players, but we know how to contain them,” he said.