Thousands of Tanzanians watch Samatta making Aston Villa debut
Thousands of Tanzanians flocked Mbagala ground, the home of striker Mbwana Samatta, to watch him as he made his debut for English top-tier side Aston Villa against Leicester City in the semi-final second leg match of the Corabao Cup at Villa Park on Tuesday night.
Samatta, who recently joined Villa from Belgian side Genk, started the match but was substituted with Keinan Davis in the 67th minute.
Leo #MbagalaKamaVillaPark Aston Villa vs Leicester City @AVFCOfficial @samagoal pic.twitter.com/t0u4cdbKEZ
— Clouds Media (@CloudsMediaLive) January 28, 2020
67′ | Samatta has put in a great shift on his debut, and he’s replaced by Keinan Davis for the final 23 minutes. ?
? 1-0 ⚫ #AVFC #CarabaoCup pic.twitter.com/bI6ZwCbLg1
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) January 28, 2020
News of his move to England has been well received in Tanzania and in his home town the Mbagala ground was full to the rafters to watch him make his debut with screens mounted on the village ground where Samatta played football as a young kid.
#MbagalaKamaVillaPark @dstvtz @AVFCOfficial pic.twitter.com/eoRWMy0Wbt
— Clouds Media (@CloudsMediaLive) January 28, 2020
His father, Ally Samatta, was part of the crowd and was overjoyed to see his son start a match for an English Premier League side.
“Machozi yananibubujika baada ya kuona mwanangu amepangwa kwenye kikosi cha kwanza leo! Tena kucheza namba 10” -: Mzee Ally Samatta (Baba Mzazi wa @Samagoal77_
Leo #MbagalaKamaVillaPark pic.twitter.com/4rSku7OEsr
— Clouds Media (@CloudsMediaLive) January 28, 2020
Aston Villa beat Leicester 2-1 to qualify for the final of the Corabao Cup set to be played at Wembley on Sunday 1st March.
They will face either Manchester City or Manchester United who clash on Wednesday at the Etihad Stadium in the second semi-final match, with City holding a 3-1 advantage.