South African coach Steve Barker’s Tanzanian club Simba will begin their bid for a place in the African Champions League group phase on Wednesday, but have the good fortune of playing both legs of their second-round tie at home.
Simba were due to be away this past weekend at 15 de Agosto of Equatorial Guinea, but stadiums in the small central African country, which has twice hosted the Africa Cup of Nations finals in the last 14 years, did not pass recent inspection by the Confederation of African Football.
That meant that 15 de Agosto had to host the first leg in a neutral venue and have decided to play both legs in Tanzania.
Their home game will be at the Uhuru Stadium in Dar-es-Salaam and Simba will host the second leg at the same venue on Sunday.
Simba are looking to qualify for the group phase of the Champions League for the sixth time in the last nine editions, having reached the quarterfinals on four occasions since 2019.
Under Barker, Simba top the Tanzanian league standings with a 100% record after the opening eight rounds of the season, including a 2-1 victory over arch-rivals Young Africans in the Dar-es-Salaam derby on 10 October.
Simba thumped Malawi’s Mighty Wanderers 7-1 on aggregate last month in the first round of this season’s Champions League.