Hopeful Harambee Stars jet out for Congo qualifier
Harambee Stars winger Ayub Timbe controls the ball during the team's training session at Nyayo Stadium on June 10, 2015 ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Congo. PHOTO | MARTIN MUKANGU |
What you need to know:
Stars will be aiming to kick start their campaign with a win as coach Bobby Williamson and his squad embark on securing Kenya’s first Afcon qualification in over a decade.
Claude le Roy says he will not underrate the East Africans based on their low position in the latest Fifa rankings.
National football team Harambee Stars left the country Friday morning for Congo Brazzaville where they will launch their 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification campaign against the “Red Devils” in Owando on Sunday.
Stars will be aiming to kick start their campaign with a win as coach Bobby Williamson and his squad embark on securing Kenya’s first Afcon qualification in over a decade.
The hosts are 76 places above Kenya in the Fifa world rankings, and so, damage limitation will be the loftiest ambition for Williamson as he pursues only his third win with the national team since he took over the job from Algerian-born Belgian Adel Amrouche late last year.
The former Uganda Cranes coach, despite being without first-choice goalkeeper Arnold Origi, remains optimistic that his squad is well capable of overcoming the herculean task ahead.
“It will all depend a lot on how we start off on Sunday. If we can manage to avoid defeat, or possibly score away then that will put us in better shape both mentally and numerically going into the subsequent rounds.
“All the players are determined to make something out of this fixture and I have reminded them that nothing is impossible about overcoming the opponent provided they put their minds to it,” the 53-year-old Scot told Nation Sport shortly before their departure.
Stars flew aboard an Ethiopia Airlines airplane and upon arrival in the Congolese capital of Brazzaville, they were expected to fly an additional 426 kilometers to the Stade Marin Ngouabi d’Ouando where the high stakes clash will be staged.
Their opponents impressed during this year’s AFCON tournament staged in Equatorial Guinea where they bowed out at the quarter finals stage, and are considered favourites in this fixture.
RESPECT FOR KENYA
French coach Claude le Roy, who has been largely successful in the African football scene, will guide Kenya’s opponents on Sunday, and he has been quoted as saying that he "reserves respect for Kenya" and that he will not underrate the East Africans based on their low position in the latest Fifa rankings.
“They (Harambee Stars) may be below us in the Fifa rankings, but they have some very good players, some of whom are playing in Europe and for this, we cannot underestimate them,” the former Senegal and Ghana national teams coach told local website StarAfrica.com.
Le Roy has paraded a galaxy of stars in his highly 20-man squad which is likely to feature Belgium-based defensive midfielder Francis N’Ganga, RCD Espanyol goal poacher Thievy Bifouma and French-born forward Dominique Malonga starting in his line-up.
FULL SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Boniface Oluoch (Gor Mahia), Ian Otieno (Posta Rangers)
Defenders: David Ochieng (Al-Tawoun, Saudi Arabia), Aboud Omar (Un-attached), Jackson Saleh (AFC Leopards), David Owino (Zesco United, Zambia), Edwin Wafula (AFC Leopards).
Midfielders: Francis Kahata (FK Tirana, Albania), Victor Wanyama (Southampton, England), Ayub Timbe (KRC Genk, Belgium), Paul Were (Unattached), Humphrey Mieno (Tusker), Kevin Kimani (Tusker), Stephen Wakhanya (Chemelil Sugar), Collins ‘Gattuso’ Okoth (Gor Mahia), Anthony Akumu (Al Khartoum, Sudan).
Strikers: Allan Wanga (Unattached), Michael Olunga (Gor Mahia), Noah Wafula (AFC Leopards), Jesse Were (Tusker).
