FRESH off their arrival in Morocco for a pre-season training camp, Azam FC head coach Youssouph Dabo has asserted his desire to form a competitive team by utilizing five friendlies expected to be played during their stay.

Azam, who finished as runners-up in the Tanzania Mainland Premier League last season, trailing champions Young Africans, will represent the country in the upcoming CAF Champions League.

Dabo (pictured) has emphasized the importance of preparing strongly to achieve success against Rwandan club APR in their CAF Champions League preliminary fixtures. The players and technical staff will spend two weeks in Morocco, participating in intensive training sessions and several friendly matches to prepare for the upcoming season.

Azam kicked off their pre-season campaign with a convincing 4-0 victory against Zimamoto of Zanzibar. The match provided fans with a glimpse of the revamped squad, featuring both new signings and departures from the previous season. Newly acquired striker Jhonier Blanco impressed with a brace in the friendly encounter. However, Dabo remains focused on further development, expressing concerns about the team's overall pace and tactical awareness, and highlighting areas requiring improvement.

"We played a friendly match in Zanzibar against Zimamoto to boost our fitness level and give every player minutes to play," Dabo explained, noting that this initial phase focused on building player fitness and ensuring everyone had playing time.

Looking ahead, Dabo outlined the team's next steps: "Now we are going into the next step which is creating a formidable team that can compete at the top level in the CAF Champions League." 

Dabo clearly has his sights set on making a strong showing in the prestigious continental competition.

The coach also addressed the upcoming friendly matches in Morocco, saying, "Friendly games that we will play here will give us the picture that we want for next season to the level of competition we expect to get in these matches." 

The matches will provide valuable insights into the team's readiness for the upcoming season and the level of competition they can expect to face.

Dabo acknowledged the importance of competitive fixtures beyond friendlies, stating: "But also once we are done, we have the opportunity to play domestic fixtures before continental tiers, which means we still have competitive games to play." 

He highlighted the significance of both domestic and continental competitions in the team's development.

With a focus on fitness, team building, and testing their mettle in friendlies, Azam appear well on their way to achieving their goals for the upcoming season, particularly in the CAF Champions League.

Dabo has downplayed talk of progressing beyond the CAF Champions League preliminary stage, emphasizing the significant challenge posed by their upcoming opponents, Rwandan club APR. 

"I cannot speculate on the last round of the CAF Champions League group qualifications because we have APR," Dabo cautioned. "They are among the teams to beat in the region, and their hunger to get into the group stages adds caution to us."

Dabo also acknowledged the importance of taking each match at a time, stating: "We need to be prepared and compete in every game and get results if we want to play in the league among the best teams." 

He stressed the need for focus and determination to achieve their goals.

Azam will face APR in a two-legged tie to determine who progresses to the next round. Should they prevail, they would face either JKU of Zanzibar or Egyptian giants Pyramids FC.