Giants Young Africans, who won the 23rd Mainland Premier League title earlier this month, earned salutation from Ilala Member of Parliament Musa Azan Zungu (CCM).
legislator for Ilala, Mussa Azzan Zungu
Chairing the Bunge morning session here, Azan Zungu congratulated Yanga for their recent win of the title, noting that he was proud of them as they (Yanga) were a club in his Ilala constituency.
Zungu used a short moment shortly after the questions and answers session to express what he felt about the club’s recent achievements.
“As an MP of Ilala, let me congratulate Yanga for clinching the league title for a record 23rd time, they did wonders,” he said, amid applause from a section of MPs believed to be Yanga supporters and jeers from the others, supposedly Simba fanatics.
To soccer enthusiasts who could have watched Parliamentary sessions since Monday, Zungu’s move yesterday seemed like a designed reply to former sports minister, Prof Juma Kapuya, an ardent Simba (Reds) supporter, who also used his moments on the House floor on Monday to aim a jibe at the newly-crowned champions, asking a fellow Legislator and Simba Chairman Aden Rage to thump Yanga in Saturday’s clash between the two arch rivals.
Prof Kapuya had taken a sly dig at Yanga when he asked Rage to field a team of young players against their nemesis. With a tongue in cheek, Kapuya bragged that Simba should not hit Yanga five goals as they did in the corresponding fixture last season, but only score three goals ‘fair and square’ in Saturday’s showdown.
“We at Simba have hit these guys 5-0 in the previous game. I request Rage to field a younger team against Yanga this Saturday and don’t score five goals this time around… please hit them with just three, they are enough,” he said. In the buildup to the game, the final in the 2012/13 season, the hype is so big between the two set of fans, both bragging for maximum points against the other.
The two clubs as customary have decided to move their training camps to their preferred destinations — seeking to stay away from any sort of distractions that could frustrate their preparations ahead of the game, pitting two soccer teams which are literally symbolic of the country’s football status.
Simba are reportedly fine-tuning in the spicy Island, Zanzibar, where they have for many years been hiding going to the derby clash. Yanga, meanwhile, have abandoned their usual base in Bagamoyo and have also crossed over to the other side of the Union to as far as Pemba as they plot their battle.
Yanga have already clinched the top flight title with dethroned champions Simba likely to settle for third place. However, revenge, pride and bragging rights will be at stake when the two most fancied and oldest clubs clash at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam on Saturday.
By ORTON KIISHWEKO, Tanzania Daily News
