South Africa's Neo Maema in his Man of the Match gong at Tanzania's Simba SC: My award is a reflection of how the whole team works hard

Neo Maema has credited his Simba Sc team-mates for his Man of the Match award after they beat Coastal Union 2-0 in the Tanzanian Premier League last night.

The South African midfielder earned the individual gong at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in a victory which saw them reduce the point gap to four on table toppers and fierce rivals Young Africans.

It was the South African’s maiden 90 minutes in the East Africa country as he had a hand in assisting in both goals.

“I think after FIFA break, it’s never easy to gel together as a team,” he told club's media.

“I think first-half we could’ve done better, but the man of the match accolade, it shows that the type of game we put out there as a team.

“For me, individual awards is just a reflection of all our hard work. So, I just wanna thank my teammates for keeping it together and make sure we get the three points.

“But this one award, I needed. I wanted to push myself to make sure that today at least I get to 80 minutes, but I made it to 90 minutes.

“These three points, firstly, it was for them. I’m happy that they came in numbers today, and I just urge them to continue supporting the boys.

“Because with their energy in the stand we can feel it even when things are tough in the pitch, we can feel it.

“So, we urge them to come in numbers on Sunday so that they can be our 12th man.

“We trust them, we love them and we make sure that Sunday, we win the three points for them.”