To confirm their seriousness ahead of the game, Simba formed a rallying call by coining ‘Total War in Dar’ as their slogan on Friday.
“The last time we met here in Dar es Salaam we defeated Al Ahly 1-0 in 2019 and our slogan then was Yes, we can ,” Simba spokesman Haji Manara told reporters on Friday.
“Before the last game [vs FC Platinum] we said War in Dar a war that was fought in 90 minutes, it was a war of blood and sweat and we emerged victors.
“This time around the clarion call is Total War in Dar . Al Ahly are a big team but we are at a point of no return. We must fight them and we must win.”
The burly striker was then unveiled three days later after the Caf assignment but according to the club’s CEO Barbara Gonzalez, they are yet to get his clearance from Zimbabwe.
“The Zimbabwean federation has been very slow in terms of confirming and responding to this but I believe that between the next two or three days it may arrive,” Gonzalez told
Goal.
Gonzalez further confirmed they have already received the transfer certificates for the other new signings.
“We are still waiting for the ITC to arrive, we have already completed everything on our part, especially on the network, so it is upon Zimbabwe federation to speed up the process, she added.
“My belief is that as time goes on he will be better and more stable so he needs time to improve it will not be as fast as we need it to be.”
Simba have lined up a tournament in Dar es Salaam to gauge their preparedness ahead of group stage matches of the Caf Champions League.
The tournament, dubbed ‘Simba Super Cup’, will kick off on Wednesday with Tout Puissant Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Al-Hilal from Sudan the other teams set to take part.
Simba will open the tournament with a clash against Al-Hilal, and commenting on the tournament, Da Rosa said: “As for the competition, we are participating in I say we are coming up against good teams and we strive to do well especially as the players have been seen doing well in practice.”