Simba Sports Club head coach Roberto Oliveira has revealed the club’s intentions of beating Al Ahly in this evening’s inaugural African Football League (AFL) encounter at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam.
The Lions will take on the most successful club in Africa in the first leg of the AFL at the sold-out stadium at 18:00 CAT.
Oliveira says Simba wants to win every game for the fans in Tanzania and East Africa at large.
He adds that the objective of the club is to put up an impressive performance and beat their opponents.
“We want to win every game, and this is a big moment,” Oliveira said. “Our objective is to win and make a good performance.”
Oliveira states that Simba has a huge responsibility to ‘honourably’ represent the region in the US$4 million prized tournament.
“This is a big thing for Simba. We are representing Tanzanian football and also East Africa. We want to do well for the region,” he stated.
The Brazilian-born coach is counting on the fans to push his lads throughout the match against an experienced Red Devils.
“Ahly is a good club with a lot of experience playing in the Champions League. Simba is also a big club and is now number seven in Africa. We respect our opponents, and they need to respect us too,” Oliveira said.
“We want our fans to come out, and it is important for us. It will be a huge advantage for us to play with 12 men, with the fans in the stands pushing us.”
Al Ahly want to make history against Simba
Simba SC captain John Bocco believes the magnitude of the match gives players ‘self-motivation’ to outdo themselves and get a positive result.
“Such games are usually motivation in themselves for players because we all want to go out and show what we can do as a team… The focus is one: to go onto the pitch and win,” Bocco said.
Al Ahly head coach Marcel Koller is anticipating a tough match but is confident of a victory away from home.
“Simba has good players, but my men are determined to record a win,” Koller said.
Mohamed El Shenawy, captain of Al Ahly, said the club wants to make history in the much-anticipated African Football League.
“The titles we have won before is history, and we are not looking at that. We want to achieve something new, and we want to do that with this new tournament,” El Shenawy said.
Eight teams are involved in the AFL as it gets underway this evening with the quarterfinals played over two legs, with the aggregate winners progressing to the semis.
