Simba, Yanga urged to prove their worth against Al Ahly, Mamelodi

Dar es Salaam. Big guns in the country, Simba and Young Africans (Yanga), have been urged to prove their worth against Al Ahly of Egypt and Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa in the CAF Champions League quarter-final encounters,

Simba will be in action tomorrow hosting the African giants, Al Ahly at 9pm at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam and Yanga will host Mamelodi Sundown on Saturday at the same venue.

Speaking to The Citizen yesterday, the Director of Sports Development in the country, Ally Mayay, said the two teams have to know that they are facing uphill tasks against Al Ahly and Mamelodi Sundowns, but the only thing to make them qualify for the semifinals is to play with determinations by utilizing all scoring chances well.

He explained that it is an open fact that Al Ahly and Mamelodi Sundowns are football giants on the African continent with big investments, but that should not take to account that they can win easily on Tanzanian soil.

According to Mayay, this is the opportunity for Yanga and Simba to defy the odds and make the country proud by eliminating their rivals from the competition.

“Yanga and Simba players will have to be very keen in their matches because Mamelodi Sundowns and Al Ahly will also be focusing on victories.

“It is going to be the battle of titans as Egypt’s Premier League is leading on the continent while South Africa’s is fifth and ours is sixth, we need to go up and that is not an easy task

“Always, if you want to win silverware in football, you need to face strong opponents. It is high time Yanga and Simba showed their worth of investments and dominance in the Mainland Tanzania Premier League,” said Mayay.

The Sports Development Director who doubles as a football pundit, also urged both Yanga and Simba technical benches to work on tactical discipline to avoid making unnecessary mistakes in the upcoming encounters.

“Al Ahly are the defending champions and are looking to retain the title for the 12th time. We know  how teams from North Africa play their away matches, so Simba who are at home have to ‘kill’ the match right here,” insisted Mayay.

On Yanga, Mayay said the Jangwani Street giants need to work on high balls due to the fact that the team have been getting punished through set-pieces, especially through corner and free kicks.