Tanzania: Basena Faces Tough Time At Simba

The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)

Majuto Omary

13 July 2011

Dar es Salaam — Hard to please Simba leadership is calling on head coach Moses Basena and his technical bench to rejig the squad ahead of the 2011/12 Vodacom Premier League.

Simba ground out results to qualify for the Kagame Castle Cup final, but went down 1-0 to arch-rivals Young Africans last week. Speaking with The Citizen yesterday, club’s secretary general Evodius Mtawala said it is high time the technical bench worked closely with the Ugandan coach to strengthen the team.

“We have some tough assignments ahead and we need a competitive team, therefore there is a lot Basena and his technical bench have to do to change Simba fortunes,” he said.

Besides featuring in the Vodacom Premier League, the Msimbazi Reds, who played second fiddle to Young Africans in the 2010/11 league season, will represent the country in the Caf’s Confederation Cup.

The official said: “It’s obvious that we somehow struggled during the Cecafa tournament, but we managed to reach the final.”Basena is a brilliant coach, we believe he will work day and night to address Simba’s Achilles heel. We still have time to bolster the squad,” he said.

Mtawala said the recently ended Kagame Castle Cup championship opened their eyes and they would do everything possible to see Simba have a competitive edge over the rest.

“The championship was an eye opener for us, we reinforced the squad with new players, but we still experienced some weaknesses.”We are now waiting for what action the technical bench will take,” the soft-spoken official said.

Simba signed formers player Athumani Idd and Haruna Moshi in a desperate attempt to replace the likes of Mbwana Samatta and Patrick Ochan who were traded to TP Mazembe of DR Congo.

He said Basena would arrive today and start preparations ahead of the looming Charity Shield encounter at the National Stadium.Commenting on the prospects of signing striker Patrick Sunzu, Mtawala said the player would meet top officials to discus terms.

“We are in the final stage of sealing the transfer, but let’s wait because the player will discuss terms with our officials tomorrow and from there we will be in a position to say for how long he will be at the club,” he said.

Simba are in a crisis of central attackers since they now depend on Moshi who is a midfielder.

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