Simba, Yanga to learn CAF fate
By DAILY NEWS Reporter, 19th December 2010 @ 12:00, Total Comments: 0, Hits: 93
ALL eyes will be on the Africa's largest city of Cairo on Monday as the draw for the 2011 edition of the Orange Champions League and the Confederation Cup takes place in Egypt, with four Tanzanian clubs set to learn their fate for preliminary rounds of the competitions.
Premier League champions, Simba and their archrivals Young Africans, who are the Mainland's flag bearers in the Champions League and Confederation Cup respectively, will get the glimpse of their continental campaigns, and where they kick off.
The Dar es Salaam giants will be keeping their fingers crossed that they avoid tough hurdles for the preliminary rounds of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) inter-clubs competitions scheduled to kick off in January, next year.
Zanzibar Ocean View and KMKM will complete the four teams hailing from the United Republic of Tanzania during the draw.
The former will be making their maiden in the continental premium football next year, whilst the compatriots are set to battle it out in the Confederation Cup.
Over 100 clubs from the 53 National Associations affiliated to CAF will be involved in the draw for the two club championships; CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation Cup.
Simba and Yanga, boast unimpressive record in African football, hence the 2011 championships will present them with the opportunity, to try and kill their jinx at the continental stage.
Despite of their shared, unmatched dominance in local football scene, the two have struggled to duplicate their home success in the continental game. Yanga, who previously represented the country in Champions League, were sent packing by FC Lupopo of DR Congo in the preliminary round, beaten 4-2 on aggregate.
Simba, who had been given a bye in the preliminary round of the Caf Confederation Cup, saw off Lengthens of Zimbabwe in the first round, but could not make into the group stages, after losing their second round tie 6-3 (on aggregate) to Egyptians Haras El-Hadoud.
The highest level of success that Simba achieved was getting to the final of the CAF Cup in 1993, where they lost to Stella Abidjan of Ivory Coast.
It was the highest achievement on continental competitions reached by any Tanzanian team. One of the most memorable years for the club was 2003, when they knocked off the then reigning champions Egyptian giants Zamalek on their way to qualify for the group stages of the CAF Champions League.
Yanga's best achievement was reaching the group stage of CAF Champions League in 1998. The Jangwani Street outfit have won slightly more Tanzanian Premier League titles than Simba, however, it is the Msimbazi Street men who have faired much better on the continental stage than their archrivals The deadline for the registration of participation in the 2011 continental club championships was November 30.