Indeed, Azam FC had initially lost the first leg of their CAF Confederation Cup First Preliminary Round tie 2-1 to Bahir Kenema about a week ago in Ethiopia, thereby setting up a high stakes, all-important second leg showdown between the two sides last Friday here in Dar es Salaam at the fortress-like Azam Complex Stadium.
In the second leg, Azam FC threw the kitchen sink at their pesky Ethiopian opponents to net a lot of goals that would see them comfortably advance to the next round of continental football’s second-tier championship.
Ultimately though, the ice cream makers claimed a wafer-thin 2-1 victory in the second leg, which meant that the two teams were now level pegging at 3-3 on aggregate.
Naturally, the fact that there was no clear winner following 180 minutes of captivating football, prompted a penalty shootout to be held, which is where Azam FC disappointingly came undone to the sheer delight of their tricky Ethiopian opponents.
Perhaps what compounds Azam FC’s utter misery is the fact that the ice cream makers have rarely impressed on the make-or-break continental football stage in the past.
However, all is not lost as the ‘ice cream makers’ can now become laser-focused on trying to claim the domestic league title following their ouster from the CAF Confederation Cup.
Bearing this in mind, one feels that Azam FC’s displays in local football’s top flight ought to make for really engrossing viewing as the new domestic football season continues to gather pace.
Let us stick with football and consider the lofty ambitions of Serie A defending champions Napoli, who have started the new 2023-24 season with a real bang.
Indeed, last season, Napoli FC was unrivaled in their supremacy over Italian football’s top-tier league, the Serie A, as they sewed up the title race even before the final day of the season.
It should be noted here that Napoli’s title triumph last season was their first league trophy victory following a 23-year hiatus.
The lanky Nigerian forward Victor Osimhen, who is one of Napoli’s most glittering stars, was in irresistible red-hot goal-scoring form last season as his many goals powered the Naples-based football outfit to title glory.
Following an off-season in which the rumour mill went into overdrive with unsubstantiated reports linking the Nigerian with a move to other moneyed colossal clubs, Osimhen opted to stay put at the Italian champions and he has already started reaping the rewards of this decision even though admittedly, it is still early days in the new 2023-24 Serie A league campaign.
The rewards I am referring to were Osimhen’s two goals in Napoli’s 3-1 victory against Frosinone on the opening day of the brand new Italian football season a little over a week ago.
Indeed, seeing as the new season is still in its infancy, it remains to be seen whether Osimhen can either match or even better his superlative goal-scoring exploits, which tore defenses into shreds last season.
Nonetheless, one thing is utterly clear. We will all have loads of fun watching the Nigerian’s menacing attacking play as Napoli takes a stab at replicating last season’s thrilling success.
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