Samatta’s dad reveals how he teared watching Aston Villa debut

Mzee Ally Samatta was in tears as he watched his son Mbwana Samatta make his Aston Villa debut against Leicester City in a Carabao Cup tie on Tuesday.

Samatta, Tanzania‘s national team captain, debuted for Aston Villa on Tuesday night in the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final at Villa Park. The hosts progressed to the final after winning the tie 2-1.

In Samatta’s home town, Mbagala which lies to the West of Dar es Salaam’s Central Business District, Tanzanians watched in their millions, how the forward made his debut and among them was Samatta Senior who was elated by the development.

“I just cannot control my tears seeing my son in the starting XI for Aston Villa tonight and especially seeing him play at position 10!,” Mzee Samatta is quoted as saying by Clouds Media.

— Clouds Media (@CloudsMediaLive) January 28, 2020

The former Simba SC and Tout Puissant Mazembe striker completed a January move from KRC Genk of Belgium to become the first Tanzanian to play for an English Premier League outfit.

In his post-match interview, Samatta’s manager Dean Smith praised goalkeeper Orlan Nyland for making crucial saves to deny the former Premier League winners goals and Trezeguet for his last-minute goal.

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“I have composed myself now. I certainly let myself go when we scored that goal. We made it an entertaining game. We know how good Leicester are so I am proud of the players,” Smith told Sky Sports.

“We are indebted to Orlan Nyland, who made three saves early on. I thought in the second half we were a bit unfortunate to concede a goal but we showed character and had a goal made in Egypt at the end.

“We have a proud history in this competition so if we can go on to raise this trophy for the sixth time as a club, I would be a very proud man.”