Yanga ramp up pre-season preparations

by Graeme Jackson

Saturday Jun 22, 2024. 11:00

Tanzanian heavyweights Young Africans are ramping up their pre-season preparations, as they aim to further improve when the 2024-25 campaign gets underway.

Yanga enjoyed an excellent 2023-24 season, winning a milestone 30th Mainland Premier League title, as well as clinching the Federation Cup by overcoming Azam FC on penalties in the final earlier this month.

However, Miguel Gamondi’s side still has room for improvement – most notably on the continental scene, where they were eliminated in the quarterfinals of the CAF Champions League after a hard-fought tie against South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns.

Thus, Yanga will be upping the intensity of the pre-season programme. While the club would usually prepare in their Dar es Salaam base in Kigamboni, this year they will head to South Africa for camp, have a high-profile match against Kaizer Chiefs in July, and also play in Kenya for the opening of a new stadium.

“This time we are coming differently from previous seasons. We expect to camp in South Africa, at the invitation of various clubs, and we have to go to Kenya for the opening of a stadium in Kisumu,” said Ally Kamwe, Yanga’s information officer, as per The Guardian.

Kamwe further noted the advantages of the South African camp, particularly the opportunity to play friendly matches against highly competitive teams:“We believe it will be a good pre-season because we will have friendly matches with great competition to prepare for the 2024-25 season.”

After speculation surrounding his future, Yanga have retained head coach Miguel Gamondi, and they will do further work in the transfer market to try and build a squad which is capable of continuing their domestic dominance, while also improving their prospects in the Champions League.