Young Africans (Yanga SC) midfielder Khalid Aucho believes the team’s togetherness in the current campaign pushed them to clinch Tanzania’s Mainland Premier League title with two matches to spare.
The Timu ya Mwananchi secured their second straight title after defeating Dodoma Jiji 4-2 in a closely fought battle at Azam Complex on Saturday.
After taking the lead through Kennedy Musonda, Dodoma equalised courtesy of Salim Hoza and then went 2-1 up through Sief Karihe.
However, Yanga launched a late comeback to score through Mudathir Yahya, who hit a double including a fine finish in the stoppages, and Farid Musa to secure the vital victory.
“We feel so happy for the fans, if they are happy so we are also happy and this title is for the fans out there,” Aucho, who moved to Yanga in 2021, said after the game.
On whether he came to Tanzania to win titles, Aucho said: “Yeah, that is what I came to do, I came to play and take everything home, every title we playing for but it was not easy to win the league, we had to fight hard and I thank God for making us the champions again.
“We must keep going; we must keep improving and putting up a fight from all of us because every day we have new players coming, and this changes the style of play and we must adapt quickly.”
The Uganda Cranes midfield maestro was instrumental during his first season at Yanga as he helped the Jangwani-giants wrestle the title from rivals Simba SC without losing a single match.
On what pushed Yanga to their 29th league title in history, the former Gor Mahia midfielder said: “Togetherness… that is togetherness and feeling happy for each other whenever we are playing. Everyone who plays just feels happy and also credit should go to the technical bench because of rotating the squad.
“The coach did a good job this campaign by rotating the players so we don’t get tired and it is the best thing that worked for us.”
Aucho took his time to send this message to Yanga fans: “I love them so much, they have really pushed us to perform this season and I love them.”
Yanga retained the title after reaching 74 points from 28 matches, seven more than their rivals Simba, who have played the same number of matches. They still have two matches to play – against Mbeya City and Tanzania Prisons while Simba will face Polisi Tanzania and Coastal Union.