Genk star Samatta: Nothing comes on a silver plate in football

Genk striker Mbwana Samatta has explained why he did not celebrate his historic goal during Tuesday's Champions League game against Salzburg.

The forward became the first Tanzanian to play in Europe's elite competition and scored a goal in the 52nd minute. However, the goal was not enough to help his team who eventually fell 6-2 to their hosts.

Despite expressing his delight after scoring on his debut, the Taifa Stars captain has explained why he did not celebrate.

"It was a good moment for me to get my name into the scoresheet on Tuesday," Samatta is quoted by Mwananchi.

"However, I could not celebrate the goal because we were trailing by a big margin. We are hurt by the outcome, but we have an opportunity to make things right in the second leg at home."

The 26-year old is happy to have made his dream of playing in the competition come true and has urged upcoming Tanzanian players to give their best to make it in football.

"I used to watch this competition at home on television and hoped to be part of it sometime in the future. I have been working harder to achieve my target and I am happy to have achieved some. For the upcoming players, nothing comes on a silver plate, work for it," Samatta concluded.

The next assignment for Genk will be at home against Napoli who defeated defending champions Liverpool 2-0 in Group E.