SIMBA have become the fourth Tanzania envoys to qualify for the first round of the CAF-Interclub championship after a sound 4-0 aggregate victory over Nyasa Big Bullets at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam on Sunday.
The unanswered 2-0 win in the return leg was enough to give the Msimbazi Street giants a ticket to play in the first round of CAF Champions League this season.
Simba have joined Azam, Young Africans and Kipanga at the first round stage. Kipanga and Yanga who played on Saturday, eliminated Al Hilal Wau and Zalan FC respectively, both teams coming from South Sudan.
The fourth team; Azam were given bye to the first round of CAF Confederation Cup on merits. Prior to the Sunday’s return leg game, Simba secured a 2-0 victory over the Malawian side at Bingu Stadium in Lilongwe last weekend.
Zambian import Moses Phiri was the yesterday’s match hero as he netted a brace, scoring the opener in the 29th minute and the second goal in the 50th minute, five minutes after resumption.
Phiri also scored when the teams met in Lilongwe a week earlier in a match that Skipper John Bocco scored his team’s second goal. Simba’s next opponents are the overall winners of a two-legged encounter between Primiero de Agosto from Angola and Red Arrows of Zambia who met late yesterday in a return leg in Angola.
Primiero de Agosto beat Red Arrows 1-0 in their first leg match held in Angola last week. Vipers Sports Club registered a double over Olympic Real De Bangui to book a berth in the first round of the CAF Champions League.
The Uganda Premier League champions won the return leg at St Mary’s Stadium in Kitende thanks to Yunus Sentamu’s solitary strike.
Meanwhile Geita Gold have been hailed for the spirited fight despite being knocked out of the CAF Confederation Cup following an aggregate 2-2 draw with Hilal Al Sahil.
The country’s envoys won 2-1 at Azam Complex in Dar es Salaam over the weekend but it was not enough to steer them into the next preliminary round. Hilal Al Sahil who won 1-0 last Sunday, advanced on away goal.
They have since joined KMKM of Zanzibar who have been bundled out of CAF Champions League after conceding an aggregate 6-0 loss from Al Ahly Tripoli of Libya over the weekend.
However, Geita Gold’s elimination is a setback as Azam and Kipanga remain the only Tanzanian envoys in the Confederation Cup race.
However, after their match, Geita Gold appreciated fans for their immense support they rendered throughout the two-legged fixture against the Sudan based outfits while insisting that next time, they will strive to do much better. It was the first time in the club’s history to participate in the Confederation Cup after they finished fourth in the last season’s Premier League.
“We wanted to reach far in this competition but things have gone the opposite way. Our focus now is on the Premier League and other assignments,” the team’s Head Coach Felix Minziro said.
