Simba ready for the Orlando test in CAF Cup today

Dar es Salaam. Tanzania’s representatives in the CAF Confederation Cup, Simba SC, today face South Africa's Orlando Pirates in the quarterfinal first leg of the Cup at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium.
The match, which has been scheduled to kickoff at 7pm, will  be officiated by centre referee Haythem Guirat from Tunisia.
Guirat will be assisted by Khalil Hassani, also from Tunisia and Nigerian Samuel Pwadutakam. The fourth official will be Ahmed Elghandour from Egypt.
Another official of the match is Sadok Selmi from Tunisia as  the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) will be under the control of Ahmed Elghandour from Egypt and assisted by Youssek Elbosaty, also from Egypt.
The match commissioner is  David Mwangi from Kenya, the referee assessor is N’da Francois from Benin and the match coordinator is Victor Lual Lual from South Sudan.
The match’s security officer is Josua Andries Hoebeb from Namibia while the match’s Covid-19 doctor is Lisobine Kisongo from Tanzania and the match’s media officer is Clifford Ndimbo.
It is a crucial match for Simba if they want to qualify for the semifinal of the tournament. Simba head coach Pablo Franco said all of his players are ready for the clash and their target is to emerge victorious.
In head-to-head terms, this will be the first competitive meeting of Simba SC and Orlando Pirates.
Pablo said they have trained hard and managed to rectify all the mistakes they made in their previous games including sharpening their striking force in order to win with a big margin.
“It is not going to be an easy match because we are facing one of the tough teams in the tournament. Apart from searching for victory, we are going to play with precautions at our home venue,” said Pablo.
He insisted that their target is to score as many goals as possible at the home ground so that they can have an easy task in the second leg.
In recently years Simba failed to qualify twice for the semifinal of the CAF continental club championship, but this time around they target to break the jinx in order to set a new record in the competition.
For his part, Simba versatile player Shomari Kapombe said they are not intimidated by Orlando Pirates and promised to do their best in the encounter.
“We call upon football fans to attend the match en mass and support us ,” insisted Kapombe.
Simba will miss the services of their key players namely Sadio Kanoute and Joash Onyango who are each serving one match ban.
The winners of this tie will face either Al Ittihad or Al Ahly Tripoli in the semifinals next month.