Simba’s Caf dream alive

Dar es Salaam. Simba coach Patrick Aussems has showered praise on his players for their impressive performance against Egypt’s Al Ahly yesterday.

Simba beat Al Ahly 1-0 at the National Stadium to revive their hopes of booking a place in the knock-out stage of Caf Champions League.

“We gave everything we could to win the match. Our goal remains unchanged -- we want to progress beyond the group stage,” Aussems said.

A 65th minute goal by striker Meddie Kagere is all the Msimbazi Reds needed to down the Egyptian giants in the Group D clash.

Kagere beat goalkeeper Elshenawy with a sizzling shot to send hundreds of Simba fans at the 60,000-seater venues into wild celebrations.

“We believe we have what it takes to be one of the two qualifiers for the quarter-finals from this group,” the Belgian tactician added confidently.

The victory means Simba now have six points from four matches, one point behind group leaders Al Ahly.

It was also a befitting revenge against the Egyptians, who thumped Aussems’ men 5-0 in the first leg in Alexandria earlier this month.

Algeria’s JS Saoura and AS Vita Club of DR Congo were expected to face off last night in another Group D match.

Simba will face JS Saoura in a return leg clash in Algeria before winding up their group stage campaign against As Vita Club at the National Stadium.

The Mzimbazi Street giants, needing a win to remain serious contenders for a ticket for the last eight, put up a spirited fight in yesterday’s match.

They could have won the match by more goals had it not been poor finishing.

Line-ups:

Simba: Aishi Manula, Zana Coulibaly, Asante Kwasi/Mohammed Hussein, Juuko Murshid, Pascal Wawa, James Kotei, Clatous Chama, Jonas Mkude, John Bocco, Meddy Kagere and Emmanuel Okwi.

Al Ahly: Mohamed Elshenawy, Karim Hassan, Yasser Ibrahim, Hamdy Fatah, Ayman Ashraf, Ramadan Ahmed, Hussein Elshanat, Amro Elsoulia, Ali Maaloul, Oliwafemi Ajayi and Mohammed Hany.