Rare treat for Dar soccer fans

Dar es Salaam. Manchester United and England record scorer Wayne Rooney will be the major attraction when Everton FC arrive in the country today for a friendly match against Gor Mahia of Kenya.

A 80-member contingent of the English Premier League side arrives in Dar es Salaam this morning for the much anticipated friendly at the 60,000-capacity National Stadium tomorrow.

According to SportPesa Tanzania administration director, Tarimba Abbas, the team will arrive at the Julius Nyerere International Airport at 9am.

Tarimba assured soccer fans yesterday that preparations and logistics for the high-profile match were in place.

Vice President Samia Hassan Suluhu Hassan is among dignitaries expected to show up at the ultra-modern venue for the eagerly awaited match, according to Tarimba.

Gor Mahia, who arrived in the country yesterday, won the SportPesa Super Cup last month to earn an opportunity to play Everton. The match will kick off at 5pm.

Everton manager Ronald Koeman was quoted as saying from London, United Kingdom yesterday that he was happy to take his team over to Tanzania for their first pre-season match.

Koeman revealed that each of the travelling party, which includes a whole host of new faces, including their latest signing Wayne Rooney, will play 45 minutes against Gor Mahia as they look to build their fitness levels.

Everton will be in Tanzania as part of their new partnership with sponsors SportPesa, and the players will also be out within the local community getting to know the culture of the East African country.

“I’ve been several times to Africa but never to Tanzania. I’m looking forward to it,” the Everton boss said. “It’s always difficult in pre-season to go a long way abroad because it will be hot over there, and we need to play the friendly. But with the way we have organised it, we’ll be on Friday,” he said.

He added: “That’s good because it’s not too long and it won’t have a negative effect on our pre-season.

“It’s a trip that is not all about football. There is the commercial side as well, which is good for Everton. We will support the Club in what we need to do over there.

“The most important thing is how we start our pre-season. It is about what we need to do to get to our best at our football and physical levels.

“This is our first friendly and everybody will be involved for 45 minutes in the game. You play football to win and we will do that in Tanzania.”