Simba S.C. coach Didier Gomes Da Rosa has appeared bullish ahead of Saturday’s CAF Champions League clash with Kaizer Chiefs.
The French manager has been in charge of the Tanzanian giants since January and only lost one of his 16 games in charge.
But despite that group stage defeat against Pitso Mosimane’s Al Ahly, Simba qualified as leaders from Group A and Gomes insisted they want to reach the semi-final.
“It is a quarter-final of the Champions League, so at this stage all the teams are very good,” he said during an online press conference.
“We expect a tough match tomorrow, particularly because we are away, but we have had a very interesting group stage and we want to continue on this way.
“We don’t want to stop now, we are very ambitious and very careful, because we are playing a very good team, even if they are not very good in their local league now. Tomorrow will be a very tough match.
“I don’t need to say much to my players, just to fight for Tanzania, for our fans, very important, and to go back with much hope.
“We need to reach the semi-final. It’s very important for our country, for our flag. We need to bring the flag of Tanzania very, very far.”
Gomes also addressed Chiefs’ domestic struggles, saying he believes they are focussing their attention on the CAF Champions League with not much else left to play for.
“We consider that Kaizer Chiefs is a big team, we cannot underrate this team. The position in the league means they have nothing to play for since many weeks. They cannot go to the podium, they cannot relegate. I think their focus is only on the Champions League.
“We are ready, we are ready to fight. We are confident in our ability. We don’t know what can happen tomorrow but we’ve played a very, very good group stage since the beginning of the competition. I trust my players.
“As I’ve already said, we don’t want to stop our way now.”
Chiefs will host Simba at the FNB Stadium tomorrow at 18:00, SA time, before traveling to Tanzania for the second leg on 22 May.
