LAST week, those bitter rivals Simba SC and Young Africans SC kicked off their efforts to make deep runs in the CAF Confederation Cup and the CAF Champions League respectively.

Indeed, the long-awaited group stage of the CAF Confederation Cup and the CAF Champions League got up and running last week as both local football titans were tasked with starting this crucial phase of these two immensely respected continental competitions on the right footing.

Heading into their potentially daunting clash against their familiar Sudanese adversaries Al Hilal last Tuesday at the widely-known Benjamin Mkapa Stadium here in Dar es Salaam, Young Africans must have been incredibly eager to secure a triumph on their home patch.

Distressingly for the ginormous Young Africans fan-base, things miserably failed to unfold according to the script.

To the utter dismay of all Young Africans devotees in attendance, Al Hilal were not deterred by the heavily partisan home crowd as the Sudanese football outfit clinched a convincing 2-0 win.

As if that were not enough, all Young Africans supporters were rendered gloomier a day later on Wednesday as their age-old foes Simba hosted the Angolan side Bravos do Maquis at the admirably grand Benjamin Mkapa Stadium.

Seeking to begin their CAF Confederation Cup’s group stage campaign on a positive note, Simba absolutely played a blinder in the first half and significantly, they assumed the lead in the 23rd minute via an expertly as well as coolly taken penalty kick by Jean Ahoua.

One minute into the second half, Simba’s lead was put in jeopardy when Bravos were awarded a penalty following a foul by Kibu Dennis.

Thankfully though, the Bravos’ player Emmanuel Edmond fluffed his spot-kick as Simba’s goalkeeper Moussa Camara produced a remarkable save to thwart the Angolan side’s efforts to restore parity.

In the wake of that costly penalty miss, Bravos ramped up their pressure on Simba but the Tanzanian club was able to withstand the seemingly relentless attacks to claim a morale-boosting victory.

Obviously, these are still early days in the group stage of the CAF Confederation Cup and the CAF Champions League.

In light of that, Young Africans would do well to adopt an indomitable spirit in their upcoming matches whereas for Simba, keeping their feet firmly on the ground ought to stand them in good stead.

Moving on, 2024 has proven to be an extraordinary year of drama-filled, non-stop sporting action which thrilled all of us to the hilt.

It must be said that African football greats were at the center of the action-packed 2023-24 football season as was demonstrated by the lethal Nigerian forward Ademola Lookman in the Europa League final on May 22nd, this year.

Indeed, in what was an utterly engrossing Europa League final, Lookman stole the show by producing a completely terrific display, which inspired his Serie A team Atalanta to rout the German bigwigs Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 and lift the trophy for the first time in the Italian side’s history.

Unquestionably, Lookman was central to Atalanta’s Europa League triumph as the devastatingly effective Nigerian attacker netted a hat-trick to defeat Bayer Leverkusen 3-0.

Thus, as this present 2024-25 football season continues to unfold one hopes that Lookman will cement his reputation as one of the globe’s deadliest forwards.