Yanga face uphill task against Al Hilal today

Dar es Salaam. The Mainland Tanzania champions, Young Africans (Yanga), today face an uphill task against Al Hilal Omdurman of Sudan in the African Champions League match at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam.

Besides Yanga, other teams to be in action today are Azam FC who face Al Akhdar of Libya at the Martyrs of February Stadium in Benghazi, Libya, at 8pm and Kipanga FC will host Club Africain of Tunisia at 4.15pm at the Amaan Stadium in Zanzibar. Azam FC and Kipanga FC feature in the CAF Confederation Cup.  Tanzania's other representative in the CAF Champions League are Simba  will be away facing Angolan Clube Desportivo  de Agosto at Estádio 11 de Novembro in Luanda, Angola, at 8pm Tanzanian time.

The matches are very important for the Tanzanian teams to win in order for them to pave the way for qualifying for the next stage of the competitions.

Yanga players are in good shape ahead of the encounter, which they target to win in order to clear the way for entering the group stage of the African Champions League for the second time in their history. Yanga last qualified for the stage in 1998, whereby they now target to break a 22-year-jinx on the team.

Yanga head coach Nasreddine Nabi said they are targeting victory over Al Hilal Omdurman in the encounter in order to make their task easier in the return leg to be held next week in Khartoum. “We need to be well-focused in the match, which is not going to be easy, as each club are out for victory on the football pitch.

“We want to maintain our winning streak in international competitions, despite facing a strong opposition,” said Nabi.

The Tunisian technician added that they are taking the encounter seriously because Al Hilal Omdurman are among the strong teams in the league.

Yanga attacking midfielder Feisal “Fei Toto” Salum said they know what the team’s members and fans want from them, expressing that they now target to set a new record. He said that they are taking the encounter seriously and called upon all football fans to attend the match and give them support.

“It is going to be a tough match as our rivals will likely target to stop us from getting a positive result, despite playing away. We are at the home venue and we need victory so that it can be easier for us to advance in the return leg,” he said. He noted that he and teammates are in high morale ahead of today’s encounter and will not let their fans down.

Another Yanga player Stephane Aziz K said he is fit ahead of the encounter and gave assurance to their fans that they will do well. “I am ready for the encounter, although I did not train with the team for a couple of days after being quarantined in Morocco due to Covid-19,” said Aziz K.

Sudanese side head coach Florent Ibenge also said they are taking the game seriously in order to win over Yanga