Ligi Kuu Bara: Yanga SC are ready to fight Azam FC in fierce derby – Hamdi

Photo Credit - Young Africans Sports Club.

Young Africans (Yanga SC) coach Miloud Hamdi has explained their game plan for the crucial Mainland Premier League derby against Azam FC at Azam Complex on Thursday.

While the Citizens are leading the 16-team league table with 64 points from 24 matches, the Ice Cream Makers are sitting third with 51 points from 25 outings. The fixture is expected to be thrilling with Yanga seeking to earn revenge having lost the first round meeting 1-0.

“We have prepared very good, we have tried to make very good recovery and it is a derby, not for the technical staff but the derby is for the players, and they know and understand that a derby is a very good game for them to play,” Hamdi told Pan-Africa Football.

“We head into the fixture after losing too much energy against Tabora United and against Coastal Union to win the two games, because they were very tough matches, Azam also had a very strong game against Singida, they lose too much energy, for the game. We respect all the clubs, all the teams and Azam is one them, one of the teams we respect a lot, but we don’t fear them, I know their coach very well, he is like a brother to me for the last 15 years, so we do respect Azam and we will do everything to win this game, we need this game, and Azam need this game.”

Hamdi continued: “We know Azam want to play in CAF Confederation Cup but also most important is that Yanga want to win the title, and to win the title you have to win the derby, and a win will be very important.

“If we play for 90 minutes and don’t have a chance to score, it will be a big problem. Like against Coastal Union we had many chances to score but managed to use only one, but football is always like that, you have many chances to score but you put only one. Against Azam, I know the game will be tightly closed because they have a good defence, we also have a very strong defence, very strong players, so the most important thing is we use our chances, even if it is one chance to score, we must put it inside.”

The former Singida Black Stars coach concluded: “My strikers must do it (to score), there is no shortcut, if we have a good chance, we must do it, and I hope we have many chances to score but I don’t think that will happen tomorrow (Thursday).”

Last season, Yanga won the first round meeting 3-2 but Azam recovered to beat them 2-1 in the reverse fixture. In the 2022 campaign, after a 2-2 draw in the first round meeting, Azam won the second round 3-2.