Tusker horror show lifts lid on poor state of Kenyan football

Tusker’s performance in the Caf Champions League has again lifted the lid on the state of preparedness by Kenyan teams to challenge for major honours at club and national team levels.

On February 19, Kenyan Premier League champions Tusker suffered an ignominious meltdown to bow out of the Caf Champions League at the preliminary stage after losing 2-1 to AS Port-Louis of Mauritius in the return leg.

The shocking result saw the brewers bow out 3-2 on aggregate. The first leg in Nairobi had ended in a 1-1 draw.

At the same time, Ulinzi Stars, who are representing Kenya in the Caf Confederation Cup, are counting their luck stars after they beat Libya’s Al Hilal Benghazi 5-4 on post-match penalties at Kasarani Stadium to reach the first round.

The match went to penalties after the soldiers squeezed a 1-0 win courtesy of Samuel Onyango’s strike for a 1-1 aggregate. In the first leg match in Libya, the soldiers had lost 1-0. Ulinzi now face an acid test in round one against Egypt’s Smouha.

All this while, the Kenyan Premier League remains suspended, thanks to wrangles between Football Kenya Federation and the league body.

Lethargic performances by Kenyan clubs has become an annual ritual that even the most thick-skinned of fans is feeling the pain of supporting these outfits.

These performances have raised tough questions, coming at a time when Kenyan Premier League is thought to have made major strides with the coming on board of title sponsors SportPesa and broadcast rights holders Supersport.

Compared to the golden days of the 1970s and 1980s when Kenya’s top-tier league was semi-amateur and sponsorships were hard to come by, Kenyan clubs seemed to perform better.

So where did it all go wrong for Kenya? Tusker, for instance, has failed to flourish both at the Caf Champions League (previously known as African Cup of Champion Clubs) and Caf Confederation Cup (formerly Africa Cup Winners Cup).

Apart from 1994 when Tusker reached the final of the Africa Club Winners Cup, and in 1973 when they reached the semi-finals, the brewers have failed to perform in Caf competitions.

In their fairy-tale run of 1994, Tusker began their quest for African glory by thumping Ferroviario da Beira of Mozambique 5-1 on aggregate before going past Rayon Sports of Rwanda in the second round.

At the quarter-finals, they beat Stade Tamponnaise (Réunion Island) 2-1 on aggregate before dismissing Gabon’s Mbilinga FC 4-1 on aggregate in the semis to set up a two-leg final with DC Motema Pembe of Congo whom they held 2-2 away in the first leg before suffering a 3-0 meltdown at home in front of unbelieving fans at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, to lose 5-2 on aggregate.

In recent years, Tusker’s record makes for a painful read. In 2013 for instance, they were kicked out of the Caf Champions League in the first round.

At the preliminaries, the brewers hit St Michel of Seychelles 7-1 on aggregate, winning 4-1 away and 3-0 in the return leg in Nairobi only to succumb 4-1 on aggregate to Al-Ahly of Egypt in the first round.

A year earlier, the script was the same as Tusker were kicked out of Caf Champions League at the first hurdle by APR of Rwanda after drawing 0-0 in Nairobi and losing 0-1 in Kigali, while in 2001, they made subtle attempt up to round two where they bowed out on away goal rule after drawing 2-2 on aggregate with Esperance of Tunisia.

And at Gor Mahia, K’Ogalo’s glorious past is only talked about in hushed tones. In golden years gone by, a mere mention of Gor’s name would send a chill down the spine of the opponent; they won at home and away and no opponent was too hard to crack for them.

In 1979 for instance when they were finalists in the Caf Cup Winners Cup (now renamed Confederation Cup), K’Ogalo began their campaign on a lucky patch as they were handed a walkover over Al Ittihad El Iskandary of Egypt who withdrew from the competition.

In the second round, K’Ogalo progressed on away goals rule after drawing 1-1 away to Nsambya FC of Uganda. The first leg had ended 0-0, while in the quarterfinals, Gor beat Kadiogo FC of Burkina Faso 4-2 on aggregate after winning both legs 2-1 to reach the semifinals where they crushed Guinea’s Horoya AC 3-0 after winning 1-0 at home and 2-0 away.

After that came a tense two-leg final against Cameroon’s Canon Yaounde. K’Ogalo had come a long way and were just 180 minutes from winning their first major title. But the inevitable happened.

Gor hosted Yaoundé in the first leg at a sold-out Jogoo Road Stadium (present-day Nairobi City stadium) and lost 2-0 to the utter disbelief of their fans. On paper it appeared that the contest was over, but Yaounde added salt to the injuries of Gor’s hurting fans, winning the second leg 6-0 in Yaounde for an 8-0 victory to lift the gong.

Gor had to wait till 1987 for a glorious run. That year, K’Ogalo began their quest for the title by thumping Marine Club of Somalia 5-0 after winning 3-0 at home and 2-0 away to advance to round one where they drew 1-1 on aggregate with Sudan’s Al-Mereikh to advance on away goals rule.

The first leg in Nairobi had ended 0-0. In the quarter-finals, Gor overcame Entente 4-1 of Togo on aggregate to sail to the semis where they beat AS Dragons FC de l’Ouémé of Benin 3-2 on aggregate after drawing 0-0 away and wining 3-2 in Nairobi .

With that victory, the stage was set for an epic two-leg final against Tunisian giants Esperance. The teams drew 2-2 in the first leg in Tunis, Abass Magongo scored the first goal before the hosts equalised before Peter Dawo’s long-range effort restored Gor’s lead only for the match to end in deadlock.

With the return leg set for Nairobi, the city literally came to a standstill as all roads led to the Kasarani Stadium where history was about to unfold. The Tunisians rattled the home side with rough play but Dawo punished them yet again, soaring high in the air to head home a Magongo corner.

Esperance equalised in the second half, the match ending 3-3 on aggregate but Gor lifted the crown on away goals rule, sparking off wild celebrations.

The other notable year for Gor was in 1989 when they marched all the way to the semi-finals of Caf Cup Winners Cup before losing 2-1 on aggregate to Al-Mereikh of Sudan.

In the recent past, Gor has lost its mojo and merely make up the numbers in Caf competitions. For instance, in 2012 in Caf Confederation Cup, they bowed out 4-0 on aggregate to Ferroviaro de Maputo, losing 3-0 away and 1-0 at home while in 2013, they thrashed Anse Re- union 5-0 on aggregate in the preliminaries but fell 0-3 to ENPPI of Egypt in the first round.

In 2014, the script was the same for Gor, drawing 1-1 on aggregate with US Britam of Gabon, the team turned on the heroics of custodian Jerim Onyango to wade through to round one, winning 5-4 on post-match penalties.

But that is as far as the narrative went as they got an 8-2 hiding from Esperance, losing 2-3 at home and 5 - 0 away. Winning may have injected some hope that a new era was finally emerging.

But as it turned out, Gor’s heroics in the domestic league were a mere passing cloud as K’Ogalo bowed out at the preliminaries of Caf Champions League after a 3-1 aggregate loss to CNapS of Madagascar.

AFC Leopards have not had a good run either. Ingwe, a dominant force in the past, posted impressive performances in 1968 and 1985 when they reached the semi-finals' of Caf competitions.

In 1968 as Abaluhya FC, Leopards thumped St George of Ethiopia 4-2 on aggregate in round one, got a walkover in round two and beat Al-Mourada Sports Club of Sudan 4-3 on aggregate in the quarter-finals after winning 3-0 in Nairobi and losing 1-3 away. In the semis, Leopards lost 2-4 on aggregate to Togo’s club Etoile Filante de Lomé.

Ingwe had won 2-0 in Nairobi before losing 4-0 away.

And in 1985, AFC Leopards overcame Al-Merreikh 3-2 on aggregate in round one, while in round two they beat Mufulira Wanderers of Zambia 5-3 on penalties after both legs had ended in 1-1 draws.

At the quarter finals, they dispatched Asante Kotoko of Ghana 5-4 after losing 0-2 away and wining 2-0 at home only to fall at the semi-finals where Leventis United of Nigeria beat them 2-1 on aggregate. Like Gor and Tusker, Ingwe has failed to shine locally in recent years, failing to win the league title in 19 years.

Their last continental appearance was in 2014 Confederation Cup when they crashed out in round one after losing 4-2 to South Africa’s SuperSport United after beating Defence Force of Ethiopia 4-1 on aggregate in the preliminaries.

Ulinzi Stars who remain Kenyan sole hope in the continental scene this year have also failed to punch above their weight in Africa . For example, in 2011, they were knocked out of Caf Champions League in round one after a 5-0 aggregate loss to Egyptian powerhouse Zamalek.

With their mediocre performances, Kenyan clubs have missed out on the millions of shillings up for grabs that come with wining African titles or making it to the group stages and the pride that comes with it.

This year, Caf Champions League winners stand to take home approximately Sh257 million ($2.5 million), while prize money for winning the Caf Confederation Cup went up by almost 90 per cent, with winners set to take home a total of $1.25 million (Sh 129 million) up from a previous $660,000 (67 million).

Former Kenya international and ex Gor and Leopards great Dan Shikanda offers a rather harsh verdict. “If you look at the profile of these Kenyan teams you realise they’re work in progress. We don’t have teams but an assembly of players,” he laments: “What ails our clubs is lack of consistency. You cannot fire coaches left right and centre and expect success; we lack playing surfaces; we are playing our football on shamba-like surfaces and it means when we get proper grounds, our boys struggle against their opponents who are used to proper facilities.”

Shikanda also said a majority of coaches plying their trade in the SPL lack the requisite skills.

Boniface Ambani, who plied his trade with Oserian and later Leopards however puts the blame squarely on poor preparations and player lethargy.

“The first problem is poor preparations. As a country we need to change our calendar to be in tandem with the rest of developed leagues. By the time the Caf competition begin, our league hasn’t started, it means the players are not in shape as they are just coming from the Christmas break. This affects us,” Ambani said.

While admitting that standards of Kenyan football has dropped, Football Kenya Federation president Nick Mwendwa does not however buy into the idea of calendar change. He says: “The last time we competed in the African Cup of Nation finals, we beat Burkina Faso (3-0), so the drop is not just at club level but also at the national team.

“Poor preparations have added to the decadence but I don’t buy into the idea that we change our league calendar. Zesco United (of Zambia) plays in the same calendar window as ours yet they reached the semifinals (of 2016 Caf Champions League).

Gor legend John ‘Bobby’ Ogolla said: “Our players are not committed. During our days we played for passion and played so many games in calendar year which gave us optimum fitness. Our preparations are poor and players downright lazy.”

Kenyan Premier League CEO Jack Oguda weighed in, saying: “We need to invest more resources in grassroots football.”