Coaches: Yanga vs Simba, a tricky league encounter

Dar es Salaam. As the Simba-Yanga match fever mount, local coaches say victory can go either way.

The league’s heavyweights will clash at the National Stadium tomorrow and the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) and Tanzania Premier League Board (TPL) have already named Hans Mabena from Tanga Region as the referee.

Mabena will be assisted by Mohammed Mkono and Kassim Mpanga while Heri Sasii will be the fourth official. The two teams met in the first round of the Premier League and fought to a barren draw at the same venue.

Mshindo Msolla told The Citizen yesterday that each team has strong strenghts and weaknesses, which make it difficult to predict who exactly will carry the day.

Msolla said with the exclusion of the Simba versus Al Ahly match, which saw Simba win 1-0, the team’s defense is still fragile and has far allowed many goals.

He said despite the victory against Al Ahly, the Msimbazi’s defenders should be cautious because, Yanga have some of the best strikers in the country. According to Msolla, Simba have many good midfielders compared with Yanga, something which may favour them.

However, Msolla said Yanga have become the masters of grinding out results because of their brilliant defenders and strikers despite facing challenges in the goalkeeping area.

“Yanga’s defensive line is key to Saturday’s match. Simba have been fluffing many scoring chances lately,” said Msolla. Msolla said football is always a game of mistakes and no one can be right assured of victory.

Another coach, Ken Mwaisabula, said the match will be tough and that it was difficult to predict the winner considering the history of the two teams. “Yanga are at the top of the table while Simba sit third. They both want to maintain their pride and positive results, so it is difficult to predict the final score,” said Mwaisabula.