MAJOR BOOST FOR SAMBA AHEAD OF ‘BIRDS’ CLASH

Sports Editor -
In Tanzania

Courtesy of Eswatini Mobile

DAR ES SALAAM – Tanzania’s Simba Sports Club coach, Patrick Aussems could not hide his joy that two of his key players, top striker, Emmanuel Okwi and defender, Juuko Murshid will be available to face Mbabane Swallows.

The two Ugandan stars came back from an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier, where the Cranes beat Cape Verde Island 1-0 at home in Kampala last week with minor injuries and sat out the goalless draw at home against Lupuli FC last Friday.

During a brief press conference yesterday, Aussems said the quick recovery of the Ugandan duo will be a major boost for his team against the Swallows of Mbabane in the preliminary round clash set for the National Stadium here yesterday. Kick off time is 4pm (3pm Eswatini time).
“We are now fully armed to face Swallows and it is very important for us to win this first leg home tie, as we don’t want to be under pressure for the second leg. We respect Swallows because they have done well in recent times in the competition but we don’t fear them,” Aussems said.

 Reclaim mojo

He admitted they have not performed well in recent weeks but will use the CAF Champions league to reclaim their mojo.
Mbabane Swallows, on the other hand, were hoping defender Siboniso Ndzabandzaba would arrive in time to join the squad ahead of today’s clash. He missed yesterday’s afternoon training session and was due to arrive late last night. Swallows coach, Thabo ‘Koki’ Vilakati believes they are in the right frame of mind to conquer here at the beautiful East African country.

“The spirit is high; we have a relatively new team but we will cope with whatever they will throw at us. We have prepared well for them,” Vilakati, who will be watching from the grand-stand due to a four-match suspension by CAF, said briefly.

Meanwhile, Tanzanian FC Cup winners, Mtibwa Sugar, who returned to CAF Inter-club competitions for the first time in 14 years, were due to take on Northern Dynamo of Seychelles in a CAF Confederations clash at the Chamazi Complex here in Dar Es Saalam yesterday.

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