Simba set to finish off Vipers
SIMBA Head Coach Roberto Oliviera said he set a perfect machinery to enable his side finish off Vipers at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam today.
The two teams meet in the return leg of the CAF Champions League’s group stage match battling for maximum points to boost their chances of qualifying for the quarterfinal stage of the contest.
In their past meeting in Kampala, Uganda, Simba stamped a 1-0 win courtesy of goal netted by centre-back, Henock Inonga which revived their hopes of going beyond the group stage.
“We have prepared a winning formula to win the match which is very important to us and it is going to be difficult because there is no easy game in the group stage of the Champions League,” said the Brazilian trainer in a pre-match briefing yesterday.
He continued: “We have much respect of our opponents who have a good team with quality players and we need to be careful with their counter-attacks.
“I am happy with confidence of my players towards the game and we have had good training sessions together aimed at producing convincing results of claiming all three points from home.”
He then urged people to forget about the 3-0 home loss to Raja Casablanca saying their focus should be on the Vipers while insisting that Simba is a big club with big objectives.
Moreover, Oliviera disclosed that he enjoys good cooperation rendered to him by players and management saying working together is a secret to excellence.
On his part, Vipers coach Roberto Pelliser said they have too prepared well to win the match just like the way Simba won in Uganda.
“In our previous match, we had more scoring opportunities than them and maybe due to experience of Simba players, they used well that advantage to win the match.
“But in terms of play, I did not see much difference between the two teams only that small details enabled them to grab maximum points on the day,” said the Brazilian coach.
He added: “In Champions League, if you make individual mistakes, you pay for that and I hope that tomorrow (today), such mistakes will not be entertained by my players.”
However, as it stands in group C after playing three matches each, Raja Casablanca lead with 9 points followed by Horoya with 4 points while Simba are third with 3 points and Vipers accommodate the bottom slot with a point.
