Tanzania: Yanga Braced for El-Mereikh Clash

Tanzania Daily News (Dar es Salaam)

25 June 2011

MAINLAND soccer champions Young Africans will be looking for a flying start when they kick off their campaign against El-Mereikh of Sudan in a group B match at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam Sunday evening.

Sam Timbe’s side go into the match knowing that they must hit the ground running if they are to have success in their group, which also include Ugandan champions Bunamwaya and Somalia’s El Man.

Group B is termed as the group of death and Yanga have arguably been handed a tricky opening match against the former African champions, El-Mereikh.

Yanga, who are three-time winners of the coveted regional club championship, can consider themselves fortunate to be involved in this year’s event after the regional football governing body, CECAFA, lifted a three year ban imposed to the Jangwani Street team.

CECAFA had locked Yanga out of regional club competitions for three years after the latter boycotted their third place play off against archrivals, Simba, in the 2008’s Kagame Cup played in Dar es Salaam, a ban that was expected to come to an end next year.

Yanga had already missed out on two Kagame Cup tournaments, the one played in Khartoum, Sudan in 2009 and the last year’s event hosted by Kigali, Rwanda, and will be determined to grasp the opportunity with both hands.

The championship presents Yanga with the perfect opportunity to bounce back from a dismal Confederation Cup campaign and give supporters something to cheer about.

Timbe, the three-time CECAFA championship winning coach, will be relying on Ghanaian hitman Kenneth Asamoah and Zambian striker Davis Mwape to spearhead his team’s attacks against the Sudanese outfit.

Asamoah was on target when Yanga drew 1-1 against visiting Gor Mahia of Kenya in an international friendly match at Sheikh Amri Abeid Memorial Stadium in Arusha last Wednesday. Meanwhile, champions APR open the defence of their title against Ports of Djibouti today at the Jamhuri Stadium in Morogoro.

APR that has secured a domestic double of league and Peace cup will be looking for a repeat of last season when they won a treble, which included the Kagame cup.

A total of 12 teams from Uganda, Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Djibouti and Zanzibar will compete in the two-week event that will be jointly held in Dar-es-Salaam and Morogoro.

The Tanzania Breweries Ltd through its Castle Lager beer flagship has dished out 300m/- to sponsor the coveted regional championship.

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