Yanga, Coastal Union turn focus to Azam Cup

Dar es Salaam. Mainland giants Young Africans (Yanga) and Coastal Union have turned focus to the Azam Federation Cup final match scheduled to take place tomorrow at the Sheikh Amri Abeid Stadium in Arusha Region.

The encounter has been scheduled to start at 3pm and both coaches of the teams are targeting victory.

As Yanga aim to win the second title this season, Coastal Union target victory in order to secure the chance of representing the country in the CAF Confederation Cup as per rules and regulations governing the game.

Yanga, who are the newly crowned Mainland Tanzania Premier league champions, will represent the country in the CAF Champions League scheduled to start in September. The Jangwani Street side will likely target to set another record this season by winning the title and level terms with their traditional rivals, Simba, who did so last season.

However, Yanga should not expect a win on a silver platter against Coastal Union who are currently in top form.

Coastal Union head coach Juma Mgunda said his men are in high spirit, raring to give the football giant a run for their money in the encounter.

“Obviously, it is going to be a very tough match, but we still have time to prepare accordingly,” Mgunda told The Citizen by phone from Arusha.

“We are ready for the match as we know that most of football fans would like to witness what we are going to do. We lost twice in the Mainland Premier League matches and we will not let them do the same in the final match,” said Mgunda.

“On a good day, we can beat any team in the league. “We just need to believe in ourselves. Take it from me, we are going to notch up a win of the season at the expense of Yanga,” Mgunda said confidently. Coastal Union are featuring in the Azam Federation Cup for the first time in their history. The team managed to win the Mainland Tanzania Premier League title in 1988 and represented the country in the African Champions League for the first time.

Since then, the team have not secured the chance of featuring in international competitions.

His Yanga counterpart Nesreddine Nabi predicted a tough match but remained optimistic that it will produce a positive result for the Jangwani Street team.

“It is going to be a tough match against Coastal Union. We met them in the league and managed to shine against them. I know they will come differently, but we are ready to maintain our record against them,” said Nabi.

He said they are taking the encounter seriously and believe they will get a good result.