Robertinho turns attention to Raja match after Horoya loss
Simba Sports Club goalkeeper Aishi Manula saves a penalty from Horoya AC striker Pape Ndiaye (first left) during the Africa Champions League group C match in Conakry, Guinea on Saturday night. Simba lost 1-0. PHOTO | COURTESY
What you need to know:
- Raja Casablanca will be the opponent for Simba on Saturday, who are currently in third position in group C and are currently without a point
Dar es Salaam. The head coach of Simba, Roberto Oliveira alias “Robertinho,” is optimistic that his squad would recover in the African Champions League group stage competition despite a 1-0 setback to Horoya AC of Guinea.
Simba, who are in group C, are currently in third place without a point. On Saturday, they will face Raja Casablanca, the group’s top team who defeated Vipers of Uganda 5-0 in their opening game.
In Kampala, Uganda, Vipers will also play host to Horoya AC on that day. Robertinho claimed that despite giving it their all during the game, his team’s numerous clear-cut scoring opportunities went unutilised. He clarified that this can occur in football occasionally and that the objective at hand is to correct all errors and prevail in the game.
“Although we missed the chance, our group still has games to play. We anticipate performing well and reserving a spot in the knockout stage,” he said. He acknowledged that Simba’s upcoming contests with Raja and the Vipers will be the most challenging.
“If you look at the away matches, there were times when we played defensively, including by starting with three defensive midfielders, but we might change tacticts in our game against Raja Casablanca,” said Robertinho. Meanwhile, Former CAF Champions League title-holders Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa and Esperance of Tunisia had to settle for 1-0 home wins in matchday 1 on Saturday.
The narrow victory margins continued a trend which began with the first group match of the 2023 edition on Friday, when Chabab Belouizdad of Algeria upset Zamalek of Egypt 1-0 in Cairo.
With defending champions Wydad Casablanca of Morocco and the club they beat in the last final, Al Ahly of Egypt, involved in the Club World Cup there were only six matches over two days. Four were settled by a single goal, one ended goalless, and Raja Casablanca of Morocco were the only team not affected by goal shyness as they hammered Vipers of Uganda 5-0 in north Africa.
Esperance had to wait until the fourth minute of added time to break down the Al Merrikh of Sudan defence, and the home team needed help from the visitors’ goalkeeper, Mohamed Mustafa.
He failed to gather a headed cross and Mohamed Tougai, a centre-back, fired the loose ball into the net in Rades.
