YOUNG Africans have described last season as exceptional after winning a treble of titles and playing 35 competitive domestic matches unbeaten saying next season, they will try to replicate the performance.
The Jangwani street giants ended their four-season drought on a gas pedal after winning the Community Shield, NBC Premier League and Azam Sports Federation Cup (ASFC) titles.
A 4-1 post match penalties victory over Coastal Union at Sheikh Amri Abeid Stadium in Arusha over the weekend was enough for Nasreddine Nabi's side to accomplish the team's mission of winning three domestic trophies.
They will therefore endure a difficult task of retaining the three titles in the upcoming season and that exercise will begin on August 13th when they meet their traditional rivals, Simba in a Community Shield match to open the 2022/23 league calendar.
Speaking after grabbing the ASFC silverware, the team's Assistant Coach Cedric Kaze insisted that last season will always be remembered by all Yanga family members for the unique records they stamped.
"To win a treble of silverwares and finish the campaign unbeaten in all domestic contests is not easy and does not happen frequently in football as such; we need to congratulate ourselves for the incredible performance.
"To win the ASFC after the dramatic final against Coastal Union simply shows that we were determined to win each trophy that faced us. It was not easy but we have made it," he said.
Again, Kaze revealed that they never gave up fighting during their tense ASFC final match saying they already knew that in a final encounter, anything could happen in between hence the ceasefire happens at the sound of the final whistle.
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"When they (Coastal Union) were 3-2 up, we saw their tempo begin to go down and we made some tactical changes to add momentum in the team and finally we equalised," Kaze narrated.
He also saluted Denis Nkane for his recent performance in the team saying he is a good player and he struggled in his early days to catch up, but now, he is able to cope with the team's rhythm saying his confidence has greatly improved.
His counterpart for Coastal Union Juma Mgunda conceded the defeat saying losing on penalties was fair to his side while praising his charges for the great match they displayed on the day.
"I hope that Tanzanians have enjoyed the final encounter and I promised that we will showcase decent football and this is what has transpired. All in all, the game is over, we have lost and we need to scale up our efforts to do well next season," he said.
He added: "It hurts to lose a final game but no matter the outcome, one team should emerge the winner as such; we accept the output. I congratulate Yanga for the win and say sorry to my players for not achieving what we wanted."
His striker Abdul Selemani, who clinched the competition's top goal scorer award with 9 goals, said he was excited to net the first hat-trick in ASFC finals which was made possible due to ample preparations.
"I was training a lot and I am happy that at last, I have grabbed the top scorers' prize which is a big thing to me and this will add value to my career," Selemani said.
