Stars to miss key men Oliech, Origi against Lesotho
What you need to know:
- “We will learn to cope without them. What is important is that we win the game,” he said.
- Meanwhile, news of the unavailability of the intended match venue have added a fresh twist to the match build up.
Striker Dennis Oliech and goalkeeper Arnold Origi have been ruled out of Kenya’s crucial Africa Cup of Nations 2015 preliminary qualifier against Lesotho even as it emerged that the Nyayo National Stadium will be unavailable for Sunday’s match.
Oliech is already with his French team Ajaccio who are unwilling to release him for the match since it does not fall within the Fifa calendar while Origi, who plays in Norway for Lillestrom, has a league match with his club on Sunday.
The absence of the two players is a massive blow to the team that must overturn a one goal deficit to progress to the groups stage of the qualifiers for the tournament that will be hosted by Morocco early next year.
However, coach Adel Amrouche says in the absence of the two players, who both missed the first leg, the team will have to re-strategise.
“We will learn to cope without them. What is important is that we win the game,” he said. In Oliech’s absence, Stars look short of clinical finishers. Midfielder Johanna Omollo scored against Comoros in Nairobi while Ayub Timbe scored in the one-all draw in Comoros in the previous round of the preliminary qualifiers.
MATCH VENUE
Meanwhile, news of the unavailability of the intended match venue have added a fresh twist to the match build up.
Sports Stadia Management Board (SSMB) Public Relations Officer Rakhi Asman yesterday told Daily Nation Sport that the venue has been booked for a religious function and is therefore not available for Sunday’s match.
“The stadium is not available for the match. Football authorities had earlier indicated that the match would be played in Nakuru and so we didn’t reserve it for the match,” Asman said.
Timbe has been invited alongside Christian Bwamy, whose last call up was last year when Kenya played against Nigeria in Calabar but he was not fielded in the match.
Last year’s KPL Golden Boot winner Jacob Keli has been struggling to score this season which leaves Allan Wanga as the lead striker.
Amrouche will be hoping that the former AFC Leopards man, who helped Kenya win the Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup, will carry his rich form at his new Sudanese club El Merreikh into the match.
