Pressure mounts ahead of derby of Kariokoo in Azam Federation Cup

Dar es Salaam. The derby fever is already gripping the nation as Young Africans (Yanga) and Simba renew their age-old rivalry on Saturday in the Azam Federation Cup match.

The semifinal encounter of the cup will be played at the CCM Kirumba Stadium in Mwanza Region and the two teams are currently in final preparations.

Yanga and Simba were in Mwanza Region playing their Mainland Tanzania NBC Premier League matches, but after the encounters, Yanga, who are the hosts of the match, left the Rock City for Shinyanga to set up residential camp while Simba decided to remain in the region and camped at Misungwi.

The camps are for players to have concentration on the encounter that is in a knockout format. Yanga lost two previous matches to Simba in the Azam Federation Cup.

Yanga were beaten 4-1 at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium during the semifinal match held on July 20, 2020 and last season the Jangwani Street side lost 1-0 in the final match held at the Lake Tanganyika Stadium in Kigoma Region.

Yanga will likely target to revenge the two defeats and qualify for the final which they target to win and crowned the title for the second time in the history of the tournament since 2015/2016 when they beat Azam FC 3-1 at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium.

For their part, the defending champions, Simba, will likely target to maintain their dominance in the competition and beat Yanga to qualify for the final and win the title for the fourth time in history.

In the eagerly-awaited match, Simba are likely to field their key players namely, Aishi Manula, Shomari Kapombe and Clatous Chama, who have regained match fitness after picking up injuries.

However, the defending champions’ attacking midfielder, Jonas Mkude, will be out of the encounter after picking up a serious injury.