AFTER the 10-man Mashujaa FC delivered a shock victory over Simba SC to sail through to the quarterfinals of CRDB Bank Federation Cup, the former’s head coach Abdallah Mohamed has lauded his team’s resilience and mentality.

The two sides produced a 1-1 draw at Lake Tanganyika Stadium during 90 minutes thereby spot-kicks decided the fate of the two sides- ending in a 6-5 victory for Mashujaa FC.

Despite playing with 10 players, the Kigoma-based side resisted the pressure from the Msimbazi Street squad throughout the second half until the final whistle was blown.

Five minutes into the game, goal-getter Reliants Lusajo gave the hosts the lead which was cancelled out by substitute Freddy Kouablan in the 51st minute, having come in for Pa Omar Jobe.

Mashujaa FC has, therefore, handed Simba SC the second cup competition elimination in a space of one week after exiting in the CAF Champions League quarterfinal following defeat to Egypt’s Al Ahly.

"I am pleased with what I saw from my players, we prepared for these results and all possible outcomes including penalty shootouts, and we selected the best goalie for the match from our three,” the delighted gaffer noted.

“Performance-wise we analyzed Simba SC in their past local and international games and knew where we could hurt them," the tactician added.

Abdallah pointed out: "Simba SC came from CAF champions league games, their momentum was set to be high with a higher rotation, we learned and projected everything would have happened, we succeeded."

Mashujaa FC joins other six teams that have secured progression to the showdown’s quarterfinals.

They are Ihefu SC, Tabora United, Coastal Union, Namungo FC, Geita Gold FC, and Azam FC.

Abdallah said their win against Simba SC is momentum for their upcoming NBC Premier League fixtures, as they are set to face Coastal Union at home on Friday.

"This match was a huge boost for us especially in preparation for our NBC Premier League fixtures, we are not safe in league standings albeit our previous form has been good, we still need to keep on winning games," Abdallah revealed.

Mashujaa FC for that matter revenged against Simba SC in the Tuesday fixture, given before the international break the Kigoma club lost 2-0 to the same opponent in this season’s NBC Premier League tie at Azam Complex Stadium in Dar es Salaam.