Israel Saria
Lacklustre Simba are now back on the saddle for title defence of the Mainland premiership after poor show in the CAF Champions League.
Simba lost the first leg of the continental league to visiting Libolo FC of Angola last Sunday much to the amazement of their home fans.
The holders, who are experiencing turbulent season, have their next premiership game against hard to beat Tanzania Prisons at the Sokoine Stadium in Mbeya tomorrow.
The Dar es Salaam football giants are in sever loss of form and their away assignment might look as a tall order going by their lackluster display.
Third placed in the standings table but eight points adrift of pace makers Young Africans, Simba have a huge task ahead to topple the leaders and retain the title.
The 17th round of the league will also saw other teams competing at various venues across the mainland Tanzania tomorrow.
Simba have many away matches to honour according the fixture that saw the team host a big number of home matches during the first half of the season.
Dropping two points has been the characteristic of the team whose fans have been disappointed by the slack show.
Having lost just two matches in 16 appearances, Simba have dropped 14 points through seven draws.
Besides looking for title defence, the holders have to close a five-point gap created by the ice cream makers Azam who are just three points adrift of leaders Yanga.
Simba need complex mathematical permutations to retain the title and dislodge Yanga and Azam from the front line as the premiership games are increasingly becoming unpredictable.
The loss to visiting Angolan side has created a potential uncertainty as to the prospect of the team in the CAF Champions League.
The Tanzania Mainland champions risk an early exit, a complete uncharacteristic of the side that used to excel at that level of the competition.
Simba are left to rue the blind selling of their ace striker Emmanuel Okwi who now features for Tunisia’s Etoile du Sahel after midseason transfer in December
Poor striking force and sloppy defence remain the huge weaknesses of the side that used to put up impressive display of attacking football.
While Simba are dejected, Azam have a bright future in the CAF Confederation Cup having posted a handsome 3-1 win over Al Nasr Juba last Saturday. The team has an easy workload to do as they gear up to cross the next round of the tournament after return leg in Juba.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
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