Simba, Azam draw battle lines for Sunday clash

RENOVATION  of  Nangwanda Sijaona Stadium in Mtwara for the epic Azam Sports Federation Cup (ASFC) semifinals between Simba and  Azam is almost complete and the match will be staged there this Sunday.

Previously the teams were to meet there on May 6th  this year, but the governing body, Tanzania Football Federation(TFF) announced on Tuesday it has moved the match to Sunday at the same venue.

As revealed by the Chairman of Mtwara Football Association, Athuman Kambi the stadium’s renovation  including its pitch is almost complete.

“It is going to be 100 percent done by this week and we thank TFF for the timely support we have got so far,” he said.

Simba play Azam after ending their CAF Champions League campaign  against  Wydad Casablanca and the club said officials were quoted as saying players turned their focus on ASFC after the end of their Champions League mission.

To reach this far, Simba mauled Ihefu 4-1 at Azam Complex in Dar es Salaam as the team’s goal poacher Jean Baleke sealed a hat-trick in the first half netting in the 2nd, 15th, and 28th minute respectively before Saido Ntibazonkiza made it 4 nil 11 minutes later.

On the other hand, a 10-man Azam, hammered Mtibwa Sugar 2-0 to book a last-four ticket versus the Reds in a seemingly tense and competitive encounter worth watching.

However, the Chamazi-based outfits suffered a setback when center-back Daniel Amoah received marching orders in the 21st minute of the game after grounding a racing Mtibwa Sugar player prompting the referee to give him a red card.

This happens to be the third time that the two teams are facing this season after meeting twice in the Premier League of which the first game elapsed 1-0 in favour of Azam while the second duel ended 1-1 to share the spoils.

In that regard, the upcoming fixture remains unpredictable and anything can happen.