Tanzania captain Mbwana Samatta has revealed is bitterness at the current lockdown occasioned by the coronavirus saying footballers have been highly affected.
Samatta, who features for Premier League side Aston Villa, has so far contributed two goals for his new side after four appearances before the league was suspended indefinitely as a precaution to contain the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Samatta insists staying at home throughout the day has completely changed his life.
“For us football players, we have been hard hit by the ongoing lockdown to the extent that we cannot go out to do our jobs. I need to go to the ground, train with my teammates and play matches but that is not the case now.” Samatta is quoted by Daily News.
He, however, said as a professional player he is still engaged in various training programmes given to them by their instructors during this period.
“We were given training programmes to fulfil by our trainers and I am doing that in order to keep fit when the league restarts. The best thing now is to be safe from this pandemic, which I believe that it will soon be defeated,” the striker continued.
Samatta was due to lead the Taifa Stars for the first time since moving to England against Tunisia in Group J of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, before they were cancelled due to the Covid-19 threat.
The Stars remain third in the group with three points, level with second-placed Libya but separated by goal difference, while Tunisia lead the group with six points from two matches. Equatorial Guinea are fourth-placed, winless and without a point.
Samatta became the first Tanzanian to play in the Premier League and has a big load to help his team from being relegated this season as they currently sit 19 on the table with 25 points from 28 matches.
They are four points above bottom-placed Norwich City, who have garnered 21 points in their 29 games and they also need to scale up their efforts to remain in the contest next season.
Samatta made his Villa debut against Bournemouth when he scored his first goal with a piercing header despite losing 2-1.
Again, he scored the only goal for his side in their 2-1 loss against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley Stadium in London, which was a big achievement for him as far as his football career is concerned.
