Young Africans coach Manqoba Mngqithi has issued an early warning to the club’s doubters after overseeing his side’s flying start to the 2026/27 Tanzania Premier League season.
Yanga secured back-to-back wins, including a convincing 4-1 win over Coastal Union, after opening their campaign with a 3-1 win over Namungo FC.
That means Mngqithi’s side have already found the net seven times in their first two matches in the Tanzania Premier League, although the South African coach believes there is still plenty of room for improvement.
Mngqithi was particularly pleased to see his forwards getting on the scoresheet and stressed the importance of building confidence among his attacking players early in the season.
“For me, it’s very important that all of them start scoring because it will settle their nerves, and they will start focusing on their football actions,” Mngqithi told journalists.
The former Golden Arrows mentor also made it clear that he is not going to lose sleep over conceding goals if his team continues to play an attacking game.
“When you score a lot of goals, you must be ready to concede,” he said. He even suggested that Yanga could have scored 10 goals against their opponents if they had taken all their chances. Can you imagine if we scored all the chances we got and conceded one? It could have been 10-1, and you’d still complain about one goal conceded,” he added.
MANQOBA MNGQITHI: ‘WE’RE GOING TO SUCCEED
The former Mamelodi Sundowns coach said the early results are giving him confidence that Yanga can become an even more dangerous attacking team.
“Seven goals in two matches, I think, for me, that’s a very good return, and I think we can still do better because in both matches we did not take our chances,” the 55-year-old coach said.
He added: “We’re going to succeed; rest assured, you will cry a lot if you think this team is going to have problems, because this team is going to win a lot of games,” Mngqithi warned.
Meanwhile, former Stellenbosch FC midfielder Ibraheem Jabaar is set to miss the next two games for Steve Barker’s Simba SC after being sent off on Wednesday. The newly signed midfielder has featured in both matches as Wekundu Wa Msimbazi got off to a winning start.
Barker’s charges started the season with a 2-0 win over Kagera Sugar before edging Pamba Jiji 2-1 in their second match. They take on Singida Black Stars on Saturday in their third match of the season as Barker looks to end Yanga’s five-year dominance.
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