FOLLOWING an eagerly anticipated CAF Champions League quarterfinal draw recently, Simba SC and Young Africans SC now know which teams they will confront in the last eight of this hugely esteemed competition.

For seemingly the umpteenth time in the CAF Champions League, Simba SC has been drawn to battle it out against record African champions Al Ahly in what is certain to be a distinctly stern test for the Msimbazi street side.

As for Young Africans SC, alias Yanga, they have been drawn to face veritable heavyweights Mamelodi Sundowns who will most likely prove to be tough opponents for the Jangwani street side to vanquish.

Indeed, both Simba SC and Yanga will have to walk a fine line between being confident and harboring excess trepidation at the thought of taking on two of continental football’s strongest clubs.

In addition, both teams will need to display extraordinary valor and a steely resolve to continue their excellent run in the CAF Champions League this season at the expense of their respective highly touted opponents.

Doubtlessly, the fact that our two leading clubs are now set to meet such illustrious opposition in the CAF Champions League quarterfinals has filled us all with dread.

Nevertheless, football is a game where fearsome giants are at times slain and so we should all bear in mind that it is not beyond the bounds of possibility for Simba SC and Yanga to overcome Al Ahly and Mamelodi Sundowns respectively in the CAF Champions League’s last eight.

Let us now dive into beach soccer, which is another form of the ‘people’s game’ that has been growing by leaps and bounds.

At the moment, the beach soccer championship that has grabbed the interest of keen football enthusiasts is the COSAFA Beach Soccer Competition, which got underway last weekend.

This year, Tanzania will feature at the championship as a guest team drawn in Group B alongside Angola, Mozambique, and Morocco.

Encouragingly, according to media reports, our national beach soccer team had been undergoing intensive preparations ahead of the tournament’s big kick-off last weekend.

In the big picture, though, there are a few worrying concerns that urgently need to be addressed for beach soccer in the country to fully flourish.

One such concern is the utterly lamentable fact that the national beach soccer team has no official sponsor at present.

Moreover, beach soccer in Tanzania significantly suffers from a lack of investment, which is a predicament that has the potential to hinder this particular sport’s progress on the local scene.

In the face of the aforementioned obstacles, it is hoped that would-be sponsors will swiftly emerge to back beach soccer financially in the country.

Indeed, critically, if funding is available it is easy to envisage the formation of beach soccer clubs and the setting up of a national beach soccer league to boot.

Returning to Tanzania’s participation at the COSAFA Beach Soccer Championship, though, one hopes that our boys can sweep aside all comers at this pulsating football championship.