Simba SC head coach Fadlu Davids has named it as a moment of pride for his side to qualify for the group stages of the CAF Confederation Cup, an equivalent of the Europa League.
Simba progressed to the group phase of the second tier level of Continental football after beating Libya’s Al-Ahli Tripoli 3-1 in Dar es Salaam, with the first leg in Tripoli last weekend having ended 0-0. Simba had to come from a goal down to win at home at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium.
Davids said, speaking to Telecomasia.net during the team’s open training session:
This is a massive moment of pride for myself and the Simba community at large. We really fought for this because it was one of our minimum targets and I want to heap praise on the players for the effort they put in. We had to really show a lot of character especially after going down early and to come out winners was a huge success for us.
The coach now says the work is on ensuring they perform well in the group phase. Last season, Simba reached the quarter finals of the Champions League, and were eliminated by eventual winners Al-Ahly of Egypt.
The South African coach, who joined the team at the start of the season, said to Telecomasia.net:
We want to go even further than that and we need to take a match at a time. African football is now very competitive and we need to give our best in every game, home and away.
Simba now switch their attention to the local league, as they await the draw for the group phase.
