The French tactician believes the Msimbazi giants will turn tables on Amakhosi as they have a good run while playing at Mkapa
Simba SC coach Didier Gomes Da Rosa is banking on his side’s good home record in the Caf Champions League to overturn their quarter-final first-leg defeat against Kaizer Chiefs on Saturday.
The Msimbazi giants will face a tall order to reach the semi-finals of the competition after losing the first leg 4-0 at FNB Stadium but playing at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium under Da Rosa, Simba have managed to beat Egyptian giants Al Ahly, AS Vita Club of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Al Merrikh of Sudan.
It is under this backdrop the French tactician is not throwing in the towel yet, insisting they still have a good chance at home to turn the tables on their opponents and reach the semis.
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“We have a rematch at home, and this is very important to keep hope that we can make it because we have been doing well when playing at home and we must make it count against [Chiefs],” Da Rosa told Goal.
“Of course we still have hope; we believe in that, we know it is possible to turn the tables, we know what happens when we play at Mkapa, we want to bank on that and see what happens.
“Firstly, we believe we can win the match and also we need to put the fire on the ground and use our home ground advantage well.
“Until now I feel the players are very committed, motivated and for sure we have to keep our hopes.”
On his part, Simba coordinator Abass Ally said: “We have a huge mountain to climb especially considering in the first game we lost by four goals but in football, everything is possible.
“Right now we are back in Tanzania, we are thankful for the prayers of the fans and their great support not to give up, we are starting preparations for our next game and with the power of God we believe we will get results.”
Chiefs goals were scored by Erick Mathoho in the sixth minute, Samir Nurkovic scored twice in the 34th and 57th minutes, with Leonardo Castro in the 63rd minute completing the victory.
