Key Yanga players to miss Caf tie

What you need to know:

The Jangwani Street team’s Zimbabwean forward Donald Ngoma and Rwandan midfielder Haruna Niyonzima are among three players who have been ruled out of the CAF Champions League match

Dar es Salaam. Young Africans will miss the services of three key players when they tackle Comoros’ Ngaya Club de Mbe in the CAF Champions League match at the National Stadium tomorrow.

Ngaya de Mbe arrived in Dar es Salaam yesterday, raring to give George Lwandamina’s men a run for their money in the preliminary round, return leg showdown.

Yanga assistant coach Juma Mwambusi confirmed yesterday that Zimbabwean forward Donald Ndoma and Rwandan midfielder Haruna Niyonzima have been ruled out of the preliminary, return leg clash.

Mwambusi said Ngoma was still nursing a knee injury he sustained during one of their Mapinduzi Cup matches in Zanzibar last month.

Ngoma, one of the players the Mainland champions bank on for goals in both local and international matches, did not travel with the team to Comoros last week for the first leg game.

Niyonzima, on the other hand, is sick, according to Mwambusi.

The assistant coach said they will also be without their Burundian striker Amissi Tambwe, who is still struggling with a knee injury he sustained during their first leg tie in Moroni last weekend.

But Mwambusi believes the Jangwani Street team will not be significantly weakened by the absence of the three players in tomorrow’s encounter.

He said despite missing three key players, they had enough cover to fill the void and called upon the soccer fans to turn up in large numbers to cheer Yanga in the match.

“Yanga have a very good squad and players of equal ability will fill the void. Tanzanians soccer fans need to turn up in large numbers because this is a national issue and not for Yanga alone,” he said.

Yanga, who inflicted a painful 5-1 defeat on the Comoros team in the first leg game in Moroni last Sunday, need just a draw to make it to the first round of the continent’s biggest club tournament.

A defeat of less than five goals would also not bar the Mainland giants from sailing though.

Ngaya Club de Mbe, on the other hand, need a win of at least five clear goals in tomorrow’s match to book a place in the next stage, which is almost impossible mission.

Yanga have been fine-tuning in the city since early this week under close supervision of Lwandamina and his assistants ahead of the match.

The lowest entrance fee for the game is Sh3,000, according to the club’s secretary general, Charles Boniface Mkwasa.

Football enthusiasts wishing to witness the clash from the VIP A and VIP B seats will have to part with Sh20,000 and Sh10,000 respectively, according to Mkwasa.

Entrance fee for the VIP C is Sh10,000.