Rooney and Everton in Dar for Gor Mahia friendly

After weeks of hype, Wayne Rooney and Everton have finally landed in Tanzania, ahead of the European club's highly billed friendly against Kenyan giants Gor Mahia.

The English Premier League club touched down in Tanzania's capital Dar es Salaam on Wednesday morning, and its entourage led by coach Ronald Koeman was filmed alighting from a SportPesa branded bus to their hotel later on.

Earlier, the Toffees led by the legendary England national team captain Rooney was pictured departing the United Kingdom for Tanzania.

According to the Daily Mail, international midfielder Ross Barkley missed out on this trip with his future at the club still unclear in the wake of a contractual stand-off.

Still, a galaxy of international stars namely centre back Ashley Williams, winger Aaron Lennon plus new signings Michael Keane and Davy Klaasen were part of the travelling contingent on this eight-hour flight.

Meanwhile, Gor Mahia arrived in Dar on Tuesday, with centre-back Harun Shakava expressing delight for an opportunity to face an English team for the second time in a year.

"We will try and contain our excitement, and play the best we can. This is a big game but we are not fazed by the opportunity of playing against Rooney," Shakava said.

Shakava was part of the SportPesa All Stars team that faced and lost against a developmental Hull City side in February.

The match will be played at the refurbished 60,000-seater National Stadium in Dar, starting 5pm on Thursday.

Everton squad:

Maarten Stekelenburg, Mateusz Hewelt, Chris Renshaw, Tom Davies, Phil Jagielka, Ashley Williams, Callum Connolly, Jonjoe Kenny, Michael Keane, Muhamed Besic, Leighton Baines, Morgan Schneiderlin, James McCarthy, Davy Klaassen, Gareth Barry, Idrissa Gana Gueye, Joe Williams, Kieran Dowell, Kevin Mirallas, Wayne Rooney, Aaron Lennon, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Ademola Lookman, Matthew Pennington, Yannick Bolasie.