Simba face Al Ahly in formality CAF tie

Dar es Salaam. Simba Sports Club today face Al Ahly of Egypt in the CAF Champions League’s last match in the Groups stage at the Al Salam Stadium in Cairo, Egypt.

The match, which is scheduled to start at 4pm Tanzanian time, will be officiated by Algerian referee Mustapha Ghorbal. In reality, this is a formality because the two teams have already qualified for the quarterfinals stage of the competition.

Simba are at the top of the Group’s standings, with 13 points. Al Ahly are second with eight points - points which cannot be beaten by AS Vita of DR Congo and El Merrikh of Sudan who also play today in Kinshasa. AS Vita have so far collected four points, while El Merrikh have two points.

The Al Ahly-Simba encounter will be a battle for supremacy- if only because Simba target to maintain their unbeaten run, while Al Ahly want to avenge for losing a previous match, and also keep their 31-goal unbeaten run in the CAF Champions League matches on their home soil. Al Ahly won 24 matches and drew seven times.

Records show that Al Ahly’s last match it lot in Cairo in the CAF Champions League was against Asec Mimosa of Ivory Coast on June 28, 2016, which they lost 2-1.

Records also show that Al Ahly scored 75 goals, and conceded 16.

Simba’s head coach Didier Gomes said they are taking the encounter seriously, and that’s why they have travelled with all their top players, aiming to have options of selecting the best starting squad.

Gomes said they know that Al Ahly target to take revenge on them after a 1-0 loss at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in the first leg.

“It is not easy and we do not want to spoil our unbeaten run despite the factor that we have already qualified for the knockout stage of the competition.

“My players are in top morale and ready to do their best in the encounter. My players have to stretch their muscles in order to win the game,” said Gomes.

According to Gomes, his players have done a commendable job in all the matches and deserve to be complimented for that. But they should not rest on their laurels yet.

“We need to prove our worth in the competition. Records matter and good enough all the players know that. If you maintain the unbeaten run, you will have the same rhythm in the next round. It is important to have the same record as we are preparing for the next round,” he said. Simba will be under their skillful attacking midfielder, Clatous Chama, and Luis Miquissone, who leads the team’s scoring chart in the competition. Chama has so far scored four goals in the competition while Miquissone has netted in three.

Al Ahly’s head coach is also targeting victory against Simba in the encounter. The South African tactician was shocked at a 1-0 loss at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium. As per the fixtures, first-leg quarterfinal matches are scheduled for May 14 and 15, with the return-leg matches being played on May 21 and 22.

The winners will qualify for the semi-finals stage whereby the first leg matches will be played on June 18 and 19. Return-led matches are set for June 25 and 26. The final match is slated for July 17 at a venue to be named later.