Birmingham City of England, have approved the National Stadium for hosting their friendly against Simba and Yanga following the completion of the inspection exercise conducted on Tuesday.

Dar es Salaam. The Carling Cup champions, Birmingham City of England, have approved the National Stadium for hosting their friendly against Simba and Yanga following the completion of the inspection exercise conducted on Tuesday.

Addressing reporters yesterday, Birmingham assistant coach Andy Watson said the facility deserves to host matches of the world-class magnitude.“We are highly satisfied with the quality of the stadium, it’s one of best on the continent and even betters some of the venues in Europe,” Watson said.

According to the coach whose side defeated Arsenal 1-0 in the Carling Cup final, Birmingham City would land on July 10 and play two friendly matches only. The team, which will come with 25 players, will lock horns with their hosts Simba on July 12 before testing Young Africans’ strength three days later.

However, it remains to be seen whether the match against Young Africans will be played since, in a dramatic move, the Mainland champions, claimed that they knew nothing about the friendly.  “We had offers to play pre-season matches in Canada and Thailand, but we now prefer Tanzania to other destinations.

“Tanzania is a beautiful country with plenty of tourist attractions, therefore we are eagerly waiting for the deal to be struck,” the coach said.Rage, also the Tabora Urban legislator said Birmingham City had agreed to visit Tanzania after the club negotiated terms with Sports and Legal (S & L) Ltd, who are organising the trip.

The MP also disclosed that the Blues would be accompanied by at least 1,000 supporters to cheer them during the pre-season trip, but fell short of disclosing the amount they will have to pay to bring the English team.Birmingham City physician Ian McGuiness echoed Watson’s words adding that the hospitals they visited had quality facilities to treat the players.