Dar es Salaam —
Young Africans and Simba SC fans will have to wait longer for their
teams to lock horns in one of the most exciting derbies on the
continent.
The two Dar es
Salaam clubs, which are as old as the Tanzanian football, will square up
on October 10 at the 60,000-seater National Stadium. Simba will be
hard-pressed to win the October encounter to avenge last season's
defeats. They lost both matches by a margin of 2-0 with Yanga marching
on to clinch the title for the second consecutive season.
Besides plotting
the downfall of the Jangwani Street giants, Simba would also want rack
up points that will help them in the title race having failed to win the
league since the 2011/12 season.
The 2011/12 season
was also their last to qualify for the Caf-organised club championships,
dealing them a massive blow financially.
However, the league kickoff will be preceded by a fast growing Dar derby between Yanga and Azam.
The two sides will
duel in the Community Shield showdown, which marks the beginning of the
new season. The match will take place on August 17 at the National
Stadium.
On the opening day
of the anticipated tough season, the fallen giants, Simba SC will host
Ndanda FC at the National Stadium as last season's runners-up Azam FC
welcome African Lyon at Azam Complex.
Others matches set
for the day are Kagera Sugar versus Mbeya City (Kaitaba Stadium), Toto
African vs Mwadui FC (Kirumba Stadium), Stand United vs Mbao (Kambarage
Stadium) Mtibwa Sugar vs Ruvu Shooting (Manungu ground) and Majiamaji
who will face Tanzania Prisons at Majimaji Stadium in Ruvuma.
Yanga, the
defending champions, will start their title defence on August 31 with a
match against JKT Ruvu at the National Stadium.
The match has been
pushed back because Yanga will be facing TP Mazembe of DR Congo in the
group B second leg of the Caf's Confederation Cup when the league kicks
off.
