Migne shifts focus to India tourney

Just a day after registering his first win as Harambee Stars coach, Frenchman Sebastien Migne has shifted his focus to the upcoming Hero Intercontinental Cup in India which starts on Friday.

Pistone Mutamba’s solitary goal handed Kenya victory over Equatorial Guinea at Kenyatta Stadium in Machakos on Monday.

The result came on the back of an embarrassing 1-0 loss to Swaziland on Friday and the Frenchman is optimistic that with enough time, he will build a formidable side.

“We’ve a lot of work to do since we are still far from being the best. We’ve to stay humble, enjoy the victory yes but focus on future assignments as we need some time together to be fully operational,” he said on Monday.

“I know some players need time to rest for club duties and we might travel to India without them but we will give our best.”

Football Kenya Federation (FKF) technical committee chairman Murithi Nabea confirmed a squad of 23 players departs Thursday morning for the Southern Asia country ahead of a 10-day tourney which will be held at the 18,000-seater Mumbai Football Arena.

“We are in the process of exposing our players to many international matches to gain experience as we await Ghana in September. The new coach also needs time to understand his team and it’s only through such games that he will be able to know the players’ strengths and weaknesses,” Nabea told Nation Sport on Tuesday.

Among the 23 will be the AFC Leopards duo of Michael Kibwage and skipper Duncan Otieno who have been exempted from the team to take part in the SportPesa Super Cup that gets underway on Sunday in Nakuru. Gor Mahia players will however not be part of the travelling contingent.

“For Kibwage and Duncan at least we’ve other players who can fill their positions but not Isuza (Whyvonne) and Owiti (Jafari). We need the two for the Super Cup,” Leopards team manager Gilbert Selebwa said.

Kenya replaced South Africa in the inaugural Hero Intercontinental Cup tournament that has participants from two other continents - New Zealand (Oceania), India and Chinese Taipei (Asian Football Confederation) - with teams set to play in a round robin format.

The top two teams advance to the final.