Dennis Kegengo
March 16, 2026Ibenge regrets Azam FC draw against Young Africans in Dar Derby
Photo Credit: Azam FC Media
Ibenge regrets Azam FC draw against Young Africans in Dar Derby
Azam FC head coach Florent Ibenge was disappointed to have failed to create scoring opportunities, but remained grateful for the 0-0 Dar Derby draw against their rivals Young Africans at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium on Sunday.
The draw ended Young Africans’ two match winning run, while for Azam, they failed to make it two wins in a row following their previous 3-0 victory against Dodoma Jiji.
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It was Azam who pressed more in the first half but could not make their dominance turn into scoring opportunities. Ibenge admitted the performance in the first half deserved to give Azam something ahead of the second period.
‘We didn’t create enough opportunities’
“We started very well, and when we kept the ball like that, we kept the ball, we kept the ball, and we were very good, unfortunately we didn’t create a lot of opportunities to score,” Ibenge told Pan-Africa Football.
“We wanted to bring something in the second half in order to create opportunities, but we didn’t do it as we wanted. In the second half we didn’t play the way I wanted, we didn’t create enough chances like the first.
“I think the draw is a fair result, and I want to congratulate Young Africans for securing the draw at home and for giving us a fantastic game. We now have to shift our focus to the next game in Kigoma. We want to go there and win the game.”
On his substitutions in the second half, Ibenge said: “It is what I wanted, because Young Africans had started to create chances, so we wanted to bring fresh legs to our team, and it helped us to keep them at bay.”
Azam moved to second with 28 points
Azam midfielder Feisal Salum, who won man of the match, said: “We never created enough chances. We did everything from the back and dominated the game but couldn’t turn it around.”
The draw enabled Azam to stay second on the log with 28 points from 14 matches, while Young Africans remained first with 36 points from the same number of matches.