The French tactician insist the Msimbazi giants have a chance to make it right despite a heavy defeat against Amakhosi in the first leg
Simba SC coach Didier Gomes Da Rosa has refused to concede they are out of the Caf Champions League after the 4-0 thrashing suffered at the hands of Kaizer Chiefs on Saturday.
The Msimbazi giants went into the match at FNB Stadium with a good record from the group stage but Amakhosi used their home advantage well to win the first leg contest and put one leg in the semi-finals of the competition.
However, they found the going tough as goals from Samir Nurkovic (a brace), Erick Mathoho, and Leonardo Castro inspired Amakhosi to a well-deserved win which saw the Soweto giants maintain their unbeaten home record in this season’s Champions League.
Editors’ Picks
- Zidane to leave Madrid at the end of the season after telling Real squad of his decision
- Abramovich took Chelsea Women from playing before ‘100 people and a dog’ to a Champions League final
- Tuchel’s Chelsea suddenly sitting on a fine line between success and failure after FA Cup loss to Leicester
- ‘They are a real team’ – Lille on verge of snatching Ligue 1 title with four ex-PSG players
The French tactician has maintained a brave face despite the huge defeat, insisting they still have a chance to make things right in the return leg set for Tanzania because “in football, anything can happen.”
“Anything can happen because this is football,” Da Rosa told Goal. “We are not happy with the outcome but we still have hope.
“When a hero stumbles, the cowards rejoice. Nothing feels better to a coward than to see a good guy fall”.
When they say you can’t do it, tell them to sit back and watch how you do it.💪🏾#HeadsUpGuys pic.twitter.com/efTACuGPSW
— Bernard Morrison (@Bm3gh) May 16, 2021
“It is important to believe we can overturn the result but for the result to change in our favour, then we must also be the best team of the day, we must produce a good game to stand a chance.”
On his part, Simba midfielder Bernard Morrison, who missed the clash against Chiefs, is confident they have what it takes to overturn the result in Dar es Salaam.
“When a hero stumbles, the cowards rejoice. Nothing feels better to a coward than to see a good guy fall,” Morrison wrote on his Twitter handle in reference to the team’s humiliating defeat.
“When they say you can’t do it, tell them to sit back and watch how you do it.”
Despite Simba going into the match having won five successive matches in their domestic league, it was Chiefs who got off to the perfect start as they broke the deadlock through Mathoho, who marked his return to the starting line-up with a goal just six minutes into the match.
Nurkovic flicked a well-taken corner-kick from Bernard Parker and Mathoho headed past Simba goalkeeper Aishi Manula to hand Chiefs a 1-0 lead and it was his third goal in this season’s Champions League.
Chief then doubled their lead four minutes after the half-hour mark as Reeve Frosler’s delightful cross was headed home by Nurkovic, who netted his first goal in the Champions League, to hand Chiefs a 2-0 lead heading into the half-time break.
Nurkovic pounced and scored with a brilliant volley to make it 3-0 to Chiefs after Simba defender Mohammed Husseini had mistakenly headed the ball into his path three minutes before the hour-mark, and it was soon 4-0 to Chiefs in the 63rd minute when Castro hit the back of the net with a diving header.
The two teams are scheduled to meet again in the second-leg encounter at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam on May 22.
