Hull City game big exposure for Kenya aces
Cliff Kasuti at the KCOM Stadium changing room. PHOTO | COURTESY |
What you need to know:
- Of the 18 players who will be taking on Hull city Tigers here on Monday night in Kingston upon Hull, Ulinzi Stars midfielder Cliff Kasuti must be the happiest.
- At 20 years of age, Kasuti is one of the few players who are below 20 years, which means that he stands a great chance of making something out of his career in as far as playing in Europe is concerned.
- His is luckier than his team mate John Mark Makwatta who was part of the Ulinzi Stars team that played and eventually eliminated Libyan side Al Hilal Benghazi in the preliminaries of the Caf Confederation Cup.
IN KINGSTON UPON HULL, UK
Of the 18 players who will be taking on Hull city Tigers here on Monday night in Kingston upon Hull, Ulinzi Stars midfielder Cliff Kasuti must be the happiest.
At 20 years of age, Kasuti is one of the few players who are below 20 years, which means that he stands a great chance of making something out of his career in as far as playing in Europe is concerned.
His is luckier than his team mate John Mark Makwatta who was part of the Ulinzi Stars team that played and eventually eliminated Libyan side Al Hilal Benghazi in the preliminaries of the Caf Confederation Cup.
While Makwatta wasn’t able to join the team for raining until Sunday last week, Kasuti was allowed ample training time with the team as he hadn’t been registered at the Confederation of African Football for the continental assignment.
Daniel O’Keefe, Hull City’s coach who was actively involved in the scouting and selection of the final short-list of players, said that he was drawn to Kasuti due to his confidence and ball control skills.
Albeit raw, his diminutive stature and youthful talent made him a darling to Hull City coaches, and it is little wonder that he got selected and was eventually short-listed for this encounter.
He told Monday Sport that he plans to make the most out of this trip and like all players, he plans to give his best performers to impress any potential scouts that might come out to watch the game.
“You never know what might happen or who may be watching. This is a great opportunity and the coach has told us that we need to focus and try to make the best out of this experience.
“The pitches are excellent, and we have had ample training time so in terms of performance there are no excuses. There is nothing hindering me from giving the best performance of my life and that is what I’m looking forward to.
Who knows? I may end up playing for an English premier league club faster than I ever imagined!” he said.
Meanwhile, When SportPesa All Stars line up against Hull City this evening at the KCOM Stadium, they will have either David Okello or Patrick Matasi standing between the posts to repel any possible invasions from the English Premier League club.
The two rank high in the list of Kenya’s experienced goalkeepers and were in fact named the best performers in last year’s SportPesa Footballer of the Year awards.
Matasi won the Golden Glove award while Okello finished as second runners up for his contribution in helping the team clinch an 11th SportPesa Premier League title. Being the first choice goalkeeper for his club Tusker, Okello was called to duty in the team’s Caf Champions League engagement against Mauritian club AS Port Louis, and was only able to join the team for training on Wednesday afternoon here.
