Simba Queens champions

_{Tanzania giants Simba Queens FC are the champions of the TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Champions League qualifiers – CECAFA Zone.}

_{Coach Sebastian Leonard Nkoma stopped Uganda’s She Corporate 1-0 in the final played at the Azam Complex, Chamazi on Saturday night.}

_{After a very tense firsts half, Simba Queens returned determined and earned a penalty after 47 minutes after Asha Djuma Djafari was brought down in the box. Kenyan International Vivian Carozone Aquino made no mistake from the spot to make sure Simba Queens take the lead.}

_{The two sides continued to create several scoring opportunities with She Corporate’s skipper Naume Nagadya missing a great chance after 51 minutes.}

_{It was all celebrations after the final whistle by FIFA referee Salima Mukansanga (Rwanda), who will also officiate at the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar.}

_{It was history written by the Tanzanian Club who won all their five matches in the tournament scoring 18 goals and conceding only one. Simba Queens FC kick started their Group B campaign with a 6-0 win against Garde Republicaine FC (Djibouti), and stopped She Corporate 2-0. In their last Group B match they defeated Yei Joint Stars FC (South Sudan) 4-0. Simba Queens went on to humble AS Kigali WFC (Rwanda) 5-1 at the semi final stage and finish in style with a 1-0 win in the final against She Corporate.}

_{“We deserved to win because we have a team which has been together for a while. We lost in the semi final last year and this year decide to work hard towards winning the trophy and qualify for the TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Champions League,” said Simba Queens winning coach Nkoma.}

_{Charles Lukula Ayiekoh, the She Corporate coach admitted that Simba Queens deserved to win the trophy because they had a better team that was well prepared for this having played in the same tournament last year. “But reaching the final is good for our players and we have got a lot of exposure in the qualifiers,” added Ayiekoh.}

_{Simba Queens FC also bagged a US$30,000 cash prize, while She Corporate bagged US$20,000 and the third placed CBE who beat AS Kigali (Rwanda) 3-1 in the play-0ff match took home US$10,000.}

_{The other Awards were won by Geinore Loza Abera (CBE, Top scorer), Fair Play Award (AS Kigali), Gelwa Yona (Simba Queens, Golden Glove), Vivian Corazone Aquino (Simba Queens, MVP). The President of Tanzania Samia Suluhu Hassan also supported the qualifiers with a cash donation of US$100,000.}