VIDEO: Simba face AS Vita today in Caf group stage duel

Kinshasa. Tanzania’s representatives in the African Champions League, Simba Sports Club, today face a tricky test in their match against Association Sportive (AS) Vita Club of DR Congo in the ongoing Groups stage in Kinshasa.

The match will be played on the 125,000-capacity Stade des Martyrs from 10pm Tanzanian time. It is an important encounter for Simba who in 2019 lost 5-0 at the same venue.

Simba players yesterday trained at the Stade des Martyrs and the players are in top form and morale.

Simba head coach Didier Gomes admitted they face an uphill task in the encounter - if only because they are playing a more experienced club, which also has the home ground advantage. Gomes said football is all about 11 players on each side - and has prepared his players technically and tactically to take on AS Vita, established in 1935. “It is a very important encounter for us. We need to show our prowess - and collect all the three points. We have trained well and the local climate is not a problem.”

He stressed that his striking force has been sharpened and believes that all the scoring chances they will create would be duly ‘converted’ to the club’s benefit. “We need to play with determination to win,” he said. The team’s assistant skipper, Mohammed ‘Tshabalala’ Hussein predicted victory even as their opponents also target victory on their home ground.

“We need to be very keen all the time, as we are playing against a veteran club to whom we lost 5-0 in 2019 at the same Stadium. Our morale is admittedly high and we call upon Tanzanians to pray for us,” said Hussein.

Indeed, Simba have to be keen in today’s encounter, for which AS Vita Club has prepared well and also target victory. The team comfortably disposed of Young Buffaloes from eSwatini in their only two-leg qualifiers.

Coach Gavin Hunt must have hoped that struggling South African club Kaizer Chiefs would have a gentler introduction to the Caf Champions League’s Groups stage than face Wydad Casablanca in Morocco tomorrow. In the past five seasons, Wydad have won the marquee African club competition - and were runners-up once, semi-finalists twice and quarter-finalists once.

Under the vastly-experienced coach Hunt, the most decorated club in South Africa has won only five of 19 matches in domestic competitions this season - and scored less than a goal per game. The Chiefs have reserved their best performance for forays into Africa, defeating PWD Bamenda in Cameroon and 2018 semi-finalists Primeiro Agosto in Angola to reach the Groups stage for the first time.