Harare — SIMBA SC flew into the country yesterday afternoon for the Confederation Cup first round first leg tie against Lengthens on Friday at Rufaro.

But the Tanzanian team met with no joy on their arrival as they had to endure a 3-hour wait at the hotel foyer before checking in as the hosts had not yet paid for their accommodation.

Management at Cresta Lodge refused to let in the team since the Real Time Gross Settlement, which had been made by the club, had not yet reflected in the hotel's account.

Efforts by Lengthens team manager Robert Matoka and Zifa programmes officer Jonathan Musavengana to convince the hotel to let Simba in were fruitless and the visitors, through their spokesman Mulamu Nghambi and officials from the their embassy protested against this treatment. Zifa chief executive Henrietta Rushwaya said it was another sad day for Zimbabwe, which is hoping to bring in a flood of visitors ahead of the 2010 World Cup.

"The Government has been running an international campaign to try and bring in thousands of people just before the World Cup and when visiting teams get this kind of treatment from hotels, then what messaging are we sending out there?

"When hotels demand cash upfront, for a delegation of so many players, are we sending the right signal to the outside world or we are shooting ourselves in the foot?

"It's a shame but, sadly, that is the way things are on the ground and it defeats the grand efforts of certain people who are trying to sell this country as an attractive tourist destination."

Simba said they would lodge a complaint with Caf.

"The players are tired, they need to eat and rest. We are not amused with the way you have treated us and we will lodge our complaint with Caf," said their spokesman. The players finally managed to get lunch and went for light training before checking in at Quality International Hotel who agreed terms with the club officials.

Rushwaya and the officials of the four clubs representing the country in Africa have been

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locked in meetings with the Government so that they could get the money for hosting the visitors.

The clubs participating in the continental games are struggling to foot their bills and have engaged Zifa to help them to secure funds for their campaign.

Away from the bad reception Simba, who received a bye in preliminary round, said they are treating this match seriously as they are now carrying the flag of East Africa as they are the only team left in the tournament.

The team brought in four foreign nationals who are on their books, the Kenyan trio of Hilary Echesk, Jerry Santo, Mike Baraza and Ugandan Owino Joseph.

Barasa scored the brace on Sunday as they beat Azam FC 2-0 to clinch the title from rivals Young Warriors.

Simba coach Patrick Phiri, a former Zambian international player, said they were treating their opponents with respect.

"Obviously Lengthens have an advantage in that they have tasted the competition, they played in the preliminary round and qualified, they are playing at home in front of their fans and have the home advantage.

"So even though they don't have much international experience we do respect them. We want to qualify to the next round so we are approaching the game seriously.

"There are a lot of expectations back home and the fans are looking forward to a good result.

"Unfortunately our counterparts (Young Warriors) were eliminated. All the teams from East Africa were eliminated in the preliminary round, so we are the only representative.

"The atmosphere is conducive for a good game. This is my home because I am from the neighbouring country so basically I am at home," said Phiri.

The coach added they got a morale booster when they lifted the league title over the weekend without losing a match but the Friday match is now a different ball game altogether.

"It was fantastic clinching the title without losing a match the whole season as we only drew twice.

"But it is history now, we are now playing international football and we must forget about the celebrations because in football celebrations only last for a day," he said.

Phiri said they don't have much information on their opponents.

"We were privileged to watch Gunners in the first round in Tanzania against Mafunzo, so at least we have a clue of Zimbabwean football.

"We only know the history of CAPS United, Dynamos and Highlanders in these tournaments but Lengthens are coming onto the scene they are unknown but they are tricky.

"We got professionals from Kenya and Uganda but every player is equally important, the foreigners have added in a new dimension.

"We would like to set a new era, we have a new squad full of young players," said Phiri.

Meanwhile Lengthens have stepped up their preparations for the Caf Confederation Cup first round, first leg tie against Tanzania's Simba Sports Club at Rufaro on Friday.

The Happy People played two friendly matches against local sides Karoi United and Motor Action at the weekend to fine-tune themselves for this week's battle against the East African side.

But Lengthens will have to battle without the services of defence stalwart Ndumiso Khanye who was red-carded during the second leg of their preliminary round tie against AS Adema of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean island towards the end of last month.

Lengthens team manager, Robert Matoka, was yesterday convinced that his charges will put up a good show on Friday.

"We have stepped up preparations for the match against Simba SC and in our preparations for this game we played against Motor Action and Karoi United at the weekend where we won 3-1 and 2-0 respectively.

"Our technical department was looking at or trying different combinations in order for them to come up with good striking partnership for our tie against Simba Stars tie.

"Up-front we tried Ralph Manuwire, Patrick Nhamo, Artwell Nyamiwa and the idea was to try and see which of the players can partner Richard Mteki, who has struck a rich vein of form.

"Our assessment in both games was that players are gaining confidence because whoever is thrown into the fray can deliver."

Matoka said that in the defence they tried new signing Casper Machona and Godfrey Moyo as their twin centrebacks before partnering Machona and Philemon Gubudu at the heart of their defence during the weekend's matches.

"But it is in the midfield where we seem to be much stronger as we have Godknows Mangani, Patrick Makuvaza and Bruce Tshuma," Matoka said.

Matoka added that the concentration level of his players was improving and "the tactical discipline is also shaping up".

The referee for Friday's match will be Israel Ramocha from Botswana and will be assisted by his two fellow countrymen Mishack Medupe and Simon Dickson.

Zimbabwean Cosmas Chafa is the fourth official while Salim Tourqui of Comoros is the match commissioner.