Harambee Stars seek redemption in Thailand
What you need to know:
- The match is afternoon scheduled to kick off at 3.30pm Kenyan time.
Harambee Stars will take on “The War Elephants” of Thailand in an international friendly match be at the 15,000-seater Thunderdome Stadium on Sunday.
The match is scheduled to kick off at 3.30pm Kenyan time.
Currently known as the SCG Stadium for sponsorship purposes, the Thunderdome Stadium is located in Muang Thong Thani in Nonthaburi, some 22 kilometres away from Bangkok, Thai's capital.
This will be Kenya’s second meeting with The War Elephants in history, after their first encounter on January 20, 1990 during the Kings Cup in Thailand where Kenya lost 2-1.
Weather forecasters predict that the match will be played under sunny conditions with highs of 35 degrees Celsius and lows of 25 degrees, with a promise of Thunderstorm later.
At position 137, Thailand are ranked 49 places below Kenya in the Fifa World Rankings, but have a glittering record in as far as Asian Football confederation (AFC) is concerned.
DECENT RUN
The War Elephants have five ASEAN Football Championship titles, nine senior-level Southeast Asian Games titles, and have made two appearances at the Olympics.
This, together with the fact that they finished fourth in the Asian Games in 1990 and 1998, makes them the most successful team in South East Asia.
Coach Stanley Okumbi finds himself desperately in need of victory, after an embarrassing 2-1 loss away to Iraq on Thursday night.
In that match, Stars put through a disjointed performance especially in the first half where Iraq overwhelmed them with the short, quick passes.
It is only in the second half when Okumbi brought in the attack minded duo of John Makwatta and Clifton Miheso that the Kenyan boys were able to create a number of chances, with Michael Olunga scoring a late consolation goal.
JOHANNA OUT
Okumbi however said that his team picked valuable lessons from that match, and that he expects a more coordinated exhibition on Sunday.
Okumbi will however miss the services of Swedish third tier side Vasalunds IF midfielder Eric Johanna, who returned to Sweden at the request of his employers who had requested that he gets back in time for their weekend league match against Akropolis IF.
