Young Africans (Yanga SC) have received a huge boost following the return to training of their captain Papy Tshishimbi.
Tshishimbi picked up an injury when the Jangwani Street-based giants resumed training ahead of the Mainland Premier League restart, but has now returned to full training.
Yanga coach Boniface Mkwasa confirmed the return of the captain after the team suffered a shock 3-0 defeat against KMC in a friendly played on Sunday.
“On a positive note, our captain [Tshishimbi] is back and he will start training with the first-team squad,” Mkwasa told reporters.
Tshishimbi missed Yanga’s three build-up matches – a 3-1 win against Transit Camp, a 2-0 victory against Dar City, and the 3-0 defeat against KMC.
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“It is good to have your captain back, he is the engine of the team and when you have him the confidence of the players also goes up, so we are happy to have him back,” Mkwasa continued.
Apart from the return of Tshishimbi, Yanga are also set to welcome back head coach Luc Eymael, who finally secured his aeroplane ticket from Belgium to Dar es Salaam.
The Belgian coach relocated to his native country after the top-flight was halted in mid-March owing to the coronavirus pandemic.
Eymael had already complained about Yanga’s laxity to facilitate his return to the country, insisting it was “embarrassing and annoying” for his delayed return to handle the side.
However, he confirmed to Goal on Monday that everything has been sorted and he will travel from Belgium via Germany on Tuesday.
“I am okay now, I got my ticket to travel on [Tuesday], finally to Tanzania, it is tough times because it has taken me ages to return to Tanzania,” Eymael explained to Goal on Monday.
“It is time for me to go back, it took much time, too much time to fly out from Belgium but I am happy I will be heading back to Dar es Salaam. I will travel via Frankfurt, then Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and finally land in Tanzania on Wednesday at 1.30 pm.”
Yanga are already out of the running for the league as they sit third on the log, 20 points behind table-toppers and rivals Simba SC.
However, they still have a chance to win the domestic Cup where they are among the teams in the quarter-finals.