LAST Sunday, Simba SC had a golden opportunity to unprecedentedly rewrite history as they slugged it out with the ambitious RS Berkane in the 2nd leg of their CAF Confederations Cup Final at the utterly packed New Amaan Complex in Zanzibar.

Trailing 2-0 from the first leg, Simba knew that they needed to overturn the deficit in the 2nd leg last Sunday and to seize the lead which could assure them of a fabulous victory in the winner-takes-all second leg of the CAF Confederations Cup Final.

Alas, it was not to be as Simba heartbreakingly drew 1-1 with Berkane in the second leg, which painfully meant that the decades-old pursuit of Tanzanian football outfits for a first-ever piece of silverware on the action-packed African football scene had sadly proven to be fruitless for the umpteenth time.

Despite the acute heartache that all Tanzanians must be painfully enduring at this moment, one feels that Simba and their South African tactician, Fadlu Davids, will learn vital lessons from this saddening experience.

And, at the end of the day, it should never be forgotten that Simba and their unbridled supporters can hold their heads up high as they were not disgraced in any way, shape, or form during their CAF Confederations Cup campaign this season.

Let us now switch our focus to the European football landscape where some African stars have ably helped their football teams to end their respective seasons in style.

One such talented African football star who played an instrumental role in his club’s league triumph is the dazzling Egyptian winger, Mohamed Salah.

Indeed, Salah, who plays for Liverpool FC, admirably netted a ton of goals and provided an equally impressive number of assists to help steer the Merseyside club to a superb league triumph in the just-ended English Premier League (EPL) football season.

Fittingly, the deadly Egyptian attacker outstandingly won the accolade of the Footballer of the Year, which is given to deserving recipients by the Football Writers’ Association of England.

Remarkably, this is the third time that Salah has received the coveted gong, which further cements his standing as one of English Football’s true and undisputed greats.

Meanwhile, as Salah was capping off his fantastic football season, the bulky Belgian forward Romelu Lukaku, was also providing an exceptional contribution to his Serie A club Napoli’s efforts to secure the much sought-after Italian league trophy.

In what was a nail-biting and edge-of-the-seat two horse race for the Serie A league crown between Napoli and Inter Milan that went down to the wire, the title ultimately had to be decided dramatically on the final day of the Italian football season last weekend.

To assure themselves certainly of another terrific league title triumph in recent seasons, Napoli had to win their last league encounter against Cagliari and they did so in a convincing manner with Lukaku netting a quite marvelous goal, which sealed his team’s 2-0 victory against the minnows Cagliari, and with that, his Naples-based football team’s second league victory in recent seasons.

Indeed, Lukaku who has Congolese roots, will now doubtlessly become the new darling of all Napoli fans after his splendid efforts last weekend.

 And, rightly so too!