Yanga, Simba turn focus on African Clubs tourney

What you need to know:

  • Yanga recorded a 2-0 win against Namungo while Simba posted 3-1 victory against Singida Big Stars to control the top two positions


Dar es Salaam. After dominating Tanzania Mainland NBC Premier league matches this season, traditional giants, Young Africans (Yanga) and Simba are now turning their focuses on the African continental club championships.

Yanga recorded 2-0 victory against Namungo FC and Simba posted 3-1 win against Singida Big Stars in their latest matches to control the top two positions in the league standing.

Yanga maintain the league top seat with 59 points from 22 matches while Simba are in the second position with 53 points playing the same number of matches.

The Jangwani Street giants’ next match will be on February 22 facing Kinondoni Municipal Council (KMC) while Simba will face Azam FC.

In international competitions, Yanga who are in group D of the CAF Confederation Cup will be in action on February 12 facing US Monastir of Tunisia in Tunis.

Yanga are scheduled to arrive in Tunisia three days before the encounter and after the assignment, they will have an uphill task of facing TP Mazembe at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium on February 19. They will then travel to Bamako to play against Real Bamako on February 26 at the Stade 26 Mars as they finish the first round stage.

The second round matches for the Jangwani Street boys will start from March 7 as they host Real Bamako before battling against US Monastir on March 19 and complete the groups stage matches on April 2 facing TP Mazembe at Stade TP Mazembe in Lubumbashi.

Simba’s fixture in the African Champions League groups stage shows that on February 11 they will be playing an away match against Horoya FC of Guinea-Conakry before hosting Raja Casablanca of Morocco on February 18 and later travelling to Uganda to play against Vipers on February 25. The second round will see the Msimbazi Street boys play against Vipers on March 7 while on March 18 they will host Horoya and complete the group stage on April 1 playing away against Raja Casablanca in Morocco.

Yanga’s coach Cedric Kaze says that they are taking the competition seriously and their target is to do their best.

“The main target is to qualify for the knockout stage... We have a strong squad that we believe will represent the country well in the competitions,” Kaze notes.

He adds that players are doing fine and are ready to face the competitions head-on.

“We need to stretch our muscles in all the matches in order to sail through. Each team is strong in the competition,” he says.