With four days remaining before archrivals Simba and Young Africans clash in a mere formality league match, the hype is seemingly rising to frenetic levels after former sports minister Prof Juma Kapuya, an ardent Reds supporter, on Monday aimed a jibe at the newly-crowned champions.
Prof Juma Kapuya
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 this Saturday.
And Prof Kapuya, the Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Infrastructure, used his moments on the Floor of Parliament on Monday to take a sly dig at Yanga when he asked Simba Chairman Ismail Aden 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 to 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.
The new champions, who are seemingly in high spirit after they sealed the league with two games to spare, have spent the current season contemplating vengeance. They are in a confident mood ahead of the derby thanks to their much improved form, which has coincided with a stuttering feat by their Reds counterparts.
For the dethroned champs, Simba, the match would present them with an opportunity to inflict yet another defeat on their foes and take some consolation after experiencing a disastrous title defensive campaign. Meanwhile, Prof Kapuya congratulated Azam for their recent heroic show at the CAF Confederation Cup where they finally crashed out in the second round at the hands of Moroccan giants, FAR Rabat. “Azam have done a better job.
They are not like some teams which just fly out of the country and do nothing beyond our borders,” he said Azam lost a fiery last-16 second leg 2-1 at FAR Rabat to exit the second-tier competition by the same aggregate score having been held 0-0 in Dar es Salaam two weeks ago. Defeat for Azam left surprise side Lydia Academic of Burundi as the lone east African qualifiers for mid-May play-offs.
Source Tanzania Daily News
