The former defender explains why he feels the Jangwani giants were taught a lesson by their rivals in the domestic Cup
Former Young Africans (Yanga SC) player Bakari Malima has revealed the reason he believes the team suffered a humiliating 4-1 defeat against rivals Simba SC in the FA Cup semi-final on Sunday.
Goals from Gerson Fraga, Clatous Chama, Luis Miquissone and Muzamiru Yassin were enough to make Simba fans smile wide at a half-packed National Stadium, and kept alive their hopes of sealing a double this season.
On the other hand, the defeat dashed Yanga’s hopes of earning a direct ticket to the Caf Confederation Cup next season.
Malima has now explained the move by coach Luc Eymael to start fit-again skipper Papy Tshishimbi, unsettled Ghanaian forward Bernard Morrison and Jaffary Mohamed, played a huge role in the team’s thumping defeat and exit from the competition.
“[Morrison], [Tshishimbi] and [Mohamed] did not deserve to play in the fixture because they were not fit enough to play and they got lost and did not do the job as expected,” Malima is quoted by Sokaletu.
“The three players have been out on various reasons and to rush them back because of the derby was a huge mistake by the coach, in my own opinion the coach should have stuck with the team which has been playing in their absence.”
Malima further hit out at Morrison’s act to walk straight to the dressing room after being substituted during the derby, claiming the players’ mind was not at Yanga.
“The move by [Morrison] to walk straight the tunnel and into the dressing room after he was pulled out also shows you the player was not ready to play in the match,” he continued.
“It was a very bad act from a professional player like him, I did not like his behaviour because it shows he doesn’t have the discipline for the team and coach.”
On what Yanga should do next after the Cup exit, Malima said: “Yanga is a good team and they still have the best chance to finish second behind Simba on the log, however, they should sign quality players when the transfer window opens and this will help them to compete with the best.”
Yanga will now fight for the second position in the 20-team table alongside Azam FC while Simba will come up against Namungo FC in the final of the domestic cup.
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