Azam line up TP Mazembe friendly
What you need to know:
TP Mazembe is home to Tanzania strikers Mbwana Samatta and Thomas Ulimwengu
Dar es Salaam. Azam FC are expected to play a high-profile friendly match against TP Mazembe in preparation for their Community Shield match against Young Africans.
The Congolese outfit will soon come to Dar es Salaam for a brief camp ahead of their Champions League match against Al Hilal of Sudan on August 23, according to Azam chief executive officer Saad Kawemba.
TP Mazembe, who have so far won the Champions League four times, is home to Tanzanian strikers Mbwana Samatta and Thomas Ulimwengu.
Kawemba said the Congolese heavyweights have asked Azam to use their training ground and facilities for training, adding that they may play a friendly at the same venue.
“They asked us to use our facilities and we gave them the nod. They will spend a few days here and we look forward to seizing the opportunity to test our team ahead of the Community Shield showdown,” Kawemba said.
Azam, fresh from winning the 2015 Cecafa Kagame Cup, will clash with Yanga on August 22 in a match that will mark the beginning of the 2015/15 Premier League season.
The Chamazi moneybags, who are currently training in Zanzibar, will early next year represent the country in the CAF Confederation Cup while Yanga will bear the national flag in the Champions League.
It is however, not yet clear whether TP Mazembe will be ready to play more friendlies against the likes of Yanga and Simba who would also like to gauge their squads.
“We are not sure if they will accept playing more matches in Dar es Salaam because as far as I know Simba and Yanga would also like to face them,” Kawemba said.
Yesterday, TP Mazembe moved closer to the CAF Champions League semifinals with a 1-0 home win over Smouha of Egypt.
Cote d’Ivoire-born Roger Assale scored the winner eight minutes after halftime before a capacity 20, 000 crowd at Stade Mazembe in southern Congolese mining city of Lubumbashi.
The victory lifted the ‘Ravens’ to eight points, three more than Al Hilal of Sudan and Moghreb Tetouan of Morocco.
Tetouan shocked two-time runners-up Al Hilal 1-0 in Omdurman on Friday through an Ahmed Jahouh penalty.
Group debutants Smouha have only three points after three consecutive defeats and are on the verge of elimination from the race for two semifinals places.
