Simba depart for Egypt minus long serving goalie Manula
Simba players arrive at the Julius Nyerere International Airport (JNIA) Terminal 3 ready to depart to Ismailia, Egypt for the pre-season training. PHOTO | LOVENESS BERNARD
What you need to know:
- Some of Simba’s players departed yesterday for Ismailia, Egypt, ahead of the pre-season camp without Manula, who joined Simba in the 2017/2018 season from Azam FC.
Dar es Salaam. It is now official that Aishi Manula will not be part of the Mainland football giants, Simba, ahead of the next league season.
Some of Simba’s players departed yesterday for Ismailia, Egypt, ahead of the pre-season camp without Manula, who joined Simba in the 2017/2018 season from Azam FC.
According to a source within the club, Manula did not attend the special meeting with the team’s investor, Mohammed “Mo” Dewji, which also involved other players and officials.
Reports suggest that Manula is on his way back to Azam FC, the club he played for before joining the Msimbazi Street giants.
Speaking with The Citizen yesterday, Simba’s Media and Information Manager, Ahmed Ally, confirmed that Manula was not part of the team that attended the meeting.
“It is true that Manula did not attend the meeting. If there is any other information, I will let you know,” said Ally.
Ally mentioned that the team’s contingent of 41 people will be in Egypt for about 22 days, training intensively under the new head of the technical bench, Fadlu Davids from South Africa.
Other members of the technical bench include Darian Wilkens and Seleman Matola as assistants, Wayne Sandilands as the goalkeeper’s trainer, alongside physical conditioning trainer Riedoh Berdien and video analyst Mueez Kajee.
The team has recruited 11 new players ahead of the season. The players are Valentin Nouma, Chamou Karaboue, Yusuf Kagoma, Joshua Mutale, Steven Mukwala, Charles Ahoua, Augustine Okejepha, Debora Fernandez, and locals Omary Omary, Valentino Mashaka, and Abdulrazack Hamza.
“Our aim is to do our best in the next league season. We want to reclaim our status by winning the Mainland Tanzania Premier League, the CRDB Federation Cup, and performing well in the CAF Confederation Cup,” said Ally.
He added that while in Egypt, the team will play three build-up matches against teams that will be announced later. He noted that it is challenging to secure Egypt Premier League teams due to the ongoing league. There are many teams in Egypt for pre-season. We will play against them for sure.
