Roberto confident with his charges

CAIRO: SIMBA coach Roberto Oliveira has expressed confidence in his squad ahead of their African Football League (AFL) return leg match against Al Ahly, saying “in football anything can happen.”

After playing out a 2-2 draw in a thrilling opening match of the new African club competition, the two sides meet again at Cairo International Stadium in Egypt tomorrow for the decisive game with the semifinal berth at stake.

“Listen, we have our objective to do well and qualify for the semi-finals, that is our plan…Simba play nice football and I am confident that we are going to win the match,” Oliveira said after landing in Egypt.

In the first leg match played in Dar es Salaam, statistically, Simba boasted good statistics compared to the current CAF Champions League (CAF CL) holders, Al Ahly.

The Reds had a total of 13 shots against 12 shots stamped by the visitors and had six shots on target while Al Ahly registered 4 shots on target.

Oliveira’s charges had 59 per cent against 41 per cent enjoyed by the Egyptian champions and completed a total of 546 passes against 390 passes by Al Ahly.

Simba had 86 per cent pass accuracy whereas the Egyptian giants cherished 78 passing accuracy. .

The 24-man Simba squad landed in the Egyptian capital on Saturday night. The travelling part comprise of the following players;

Goalkeepers: Ayoub Lakred, Ally Salim and Hussein Abel.

Defenders: Shomari Kapombe, Mohamed Hussein, Israel Mwenda, Hussein Kazi, Kennedy Juma, Che Malone, David Kameta and Henock Inonga.

Midfielders: Fabrice Ngoma, Sadio Kanoute, Mzamiru Yassin, Saido Ntibazonkiza, Willy Onana, Clatous Chama, Abdallah Hamis and Luis Miquissone.

Strikers: Jean Baleke, Moses Phiri, Kibu Denis, John Bocco and Shabani Chilunda.