Al Ahly Tripoli not easy opponent – Simba coach

TRIPOLI: SIMBA’S Coach, Fadlu Davids, has learnt Al Ahly Tripoli will not be an easy opponent, but they are determined to give their best shot and advance to the group stage of the CAF Confederation.

The duo meets in the first leg of the Confederation Cup second preliminary round at 11 June Stadium in Tripoli, Libya today with each targeting to claim success.

After today’s match, they will interface in the reverse leg at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam on Sunday and the overall winner will book a ticket to the last 16 of the contest.

In his recent remarks from Libya, Davids reiterated that they have a quality squad capable to advance into the group stage, but before doing that they have to upset their strong opponents.

“They are a strong team, not easy to beat and usually, you face such teams in the group stage, but this time we are playing against them in the second preliminary round.

“As such, it will not be an easy task to eliminate them from the competition but we are well prepared to execute the intended job and realise our primary objective of stepping into the group stage,” he said.

He further called on more Simba fans to flock at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium during the return leg match to give them maximum support throughout the encounter.

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“I am sure that our supporters will descend in big number on the day because it will be a make-or-break match for us but we will do our utmost to ensure that we make a breakthrough to the next stage,” he said.

This is the first time that Coach Davids is navigating Simba in the Confederation Cup and people are anxious to see how far he is going to take the Reds in the contest.

Also, basing on his coaching career, this happens to be the first time for Davids to take full charge of a team in CAF Inter club Competitions.

Nicknamed Club of the Century, Al Ahly Tripoli was established in 1950 and their best performance in the Confederation Cup came in 2022 when they reached in the semi-finals.

Overall, this is the sixth time they are competing in the Confederation Cup and are eyeing to make another record to advance into the last 16.