Photo Credit - Simba SC Tanzania.
Simba SC head coach Fadlu Davids has admitted that his players were forced to fight mentally and psychologically to eliminate Championship side TMA Stars in the round of 32 fixture of the CRDB Federation Cup at KMC Stadium on Tuesday.
The Msimbazi Reds went into the fixture having not played the previous one following the postponement of their eagerly-awaited Kariakoo derby in the Mainland Premier League.
However, Davids, made several changes to his squad for the domestic Cup fixture and they qualified to the next stage following a 3-0 win. Valentin Nouma put Simba ahead before an own goal enabled them to go 2-0 up.
At the start of the second half, Leonel Ateba scored the third to complete the emphatic win and book a ticket to the next stage of the knockout competition.
“It was very important from a psychological point of view, we had psyched ourselves for the derby, but we didn’t play the derby, and now to get the players to be ready mentally for a team that plays in the Championship, it was not easy from the psychological side, especially to motivate the players but they had to dig deep for the win, not from a physical side but from the mental side,” Davids told Pan-Africa Football.
“The players stayed calm and they did not drop to the level of Championship but (I don't disrespect TMA Sports), they were a good side, they pushed us but it was very important from the mental, the psychological side to do the job and get to the next round and most importantly to keep a clean sheet.”
The South African coach continued: “It is well done to them (players) to be able to perform under the circumstances, three goals, clean sheet with a lot of changes, a lot of different players playing in different positions, no centre backs on the field in the last 30 minutes of the game but we played a three defence line with midfielders.
“It is a good result, we are through to the next round, it was actually the most important thing and now we shift focus to our game against Dodoma Jiji.”
Simba will return to action with a league fixture against Dodoma Jiji at KMC Stadium on Friday, March 14.
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