Simba meet Jwaneng Galaxy in African Champions League

Dar es Salaam. Football giants in the country, Simba, today face Botswana’s Jwaneng Galaxy in the African Champions League return leg to start from 4pm at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium.

Tanzania’s side need only a draw to qualify for the group stage of the tournament. In their away leg held in Gaborone, Botswana, Simba won 2-0, thanks to team captain John Bocco’s goals. The victory means the Tanzanian football giants have a 99 percent chance of qualifying for the group stage of the competition while Galaxy need a clear 3-0 victory to book space in the group stage.

Simba coach Thiery Hitimana said his players are in good shape ahead of the encounter and he promised they are going to do their best.

“This is football as we are yet to reach the group stage of the competition. We need to be very keen as we are facing tough opponents in the tournament,” said Hitimana.

However, he said they are optimistic that they will do their best in the match and qualify for the group stage.

He explained that they had trained well ahead of the game and all the mistakes they made in their past matches had been rectified.

According to the tactician, they will not underestimate their opponents during the encounter for which they have prepared to win by applying special tactics.

“It is not going to be an easy match because we are playing against one of the tough teams in the competition. But we have studied them through various sources and we have to take advantage very of our home ground, because we will have the maximum support. We will have to play our game and search for victory,” he said.

However, the Tanzanian side will be playing without their key players, Chriss Mugalu and Pape Sakho who are nursing their injuries.

For his part, Simba captain John Bocco has predicted a tough encounter, but said they have prepared to win and qualify for the next round. Bocco said they are in high morale and they are aware of what Tanzanians should expect from them.

“We target victory in the game because we have been trained well and we know how to counter our opponents in the match. It is true that it will be a tough game, but we are prepared for it,” said Bocco.