Simba labour to down Yanga

Dar es Salaam. The National Stadium turned into a sea of red and white colours on Wednesday when Simba beat their arch-rivals Young Africans 5-4 in a tense but thrilling Community Shield match.

The two teams could not be separated in normal time. Simba won the match dubbed battle of titans on penalties in the clash that served a curtain-raiser for the 2017/18 Mainland Premier League, which kicks off on Saturday.

A wide range of emotions had engulfed the 60,000-seater ultra-modern venue prior to the kick off of the well-attended derby.

Anticipation was growing by the minute as fans waited for the country’s football heavyweights to take centre stage.

The sold out stadium was awash with green and red, the distinctive colours of the Yanga and Simba respectively.

The venue buzzed from the sound of tens of vuvuzelas being blown by some fans.

Both Simba and Yanga played their hearts out to the delight of soccer fans.

Simba scored their penalties through team captain Method Mwanjali, Emmanuel Okwi, Haruna Niyonzima, Shiza Kichuya and Mohammed Ibrahim, while Mohammed Hussein Tshabalala missed his. Kabamba Tshitshimbi, Thaba Kamusoko, Ibrahim Ajib and Donald Ngoma scored for yanga while Kelvin Yondani and Juma Mahadhi fluffed theirs.

It was the third match in ten months between the two teams, whose rivalry is as old as the country’s football history.

They first met on January 11 in the Mapinduzi Cup semi-finals in Zanzibar, where Simba beat their traditional rivals 4-2 in post-match penalties to cruise into the finals.

They locked horns again on February 27 in the Mainland Premier League match at the National Stadium, and the Msimbazi Reds confirmed their supremacy over the Jangwani Street team with a 2-1 win.

Meanwhile, the 2018/19 Vodacom Premier League will feature 20 teams, the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) revealed yesterday.

Currently, 16 teams compete in the league, which determines the country’s representatives in the CAF Champions League.

TFF media and information officer Alfred Lucas said yesterday that the new development was reached during a meeting of the federation’s executive committee earlier this week.

According to him, two Premier League sides will be relegated to a lower division (National First Division League) at the end of the topflight, instead of three as is the case now.

The TFF has also increased the number of teams that earn promotion to the Premier League from three to six.

In another development, the TFF executive committee has appointed former Simba Sport Club player, Kidao Wilfred the national football government body’s acting secretary general.

Line-ups:-

Simba: Aishi Manula, Ally Shomari, Erasto Nyoni, Mohamed Hussein, Salim Mbonde, Method Mwanjali, James Kotei, Shiza Kichuya, Nzamiru Yassin, Laudit Mavugo, Haruna Niyonzima and Emmanuel Okwi.

Yanga:- Youthe Rostand, Juma Abdul, Gardiel Michael, Andrew Vincent ‘Dante’, Kevin Yondan, Papy Kabamba Tshishimbi, Raphael Daudi, Thabani Kamusoko, Donald Ngoma, Ibrahim Ajib and Emmanuel Martin.