kenya under pressure

“The Kenya team must go all the way to the final so that we (CECAFA) have a good competition” that is the message from CECAFA Secretary General Nicholas Musonye ahead of the CECAFA Cup next Saturday. The draw for the competition was released on Thursday with Kenya placed in Group A alongside Zambia, Ethiopia and Djibouti. Group B pips 2009 COCAFA Champions Zimbabwe against Rwanda, Eritrea and Somali; whilst reigning champions Uganda are in Group C along with Tanzania, Burundi and Islanders Zanzibar.

One surprisingly absentee is Sudan, one of the strongest nations in the region reportedly missed the registration deadline so will not be travelling to Kenya for the tournament.

The question is whether Nicholas Musonye’s comment will act as a rallying cry to the Harambee Stars or pile further pressure onto a side that have been in turmoil the last few weeks – and are currently without an official head coach. I’m inclined to think the latter.

German coach Anthony Hey – who during his time as Kenya coach threw more hissy fits than a over-sugared American teenager – abandoned his role as head coach after his bosses at the FKL went over his head and re-instated several key Kenyan players (including misfiring striker Dennis Oliech and defensive stalwart Edgar Ochieng) into their squad for a crucial World Cup/Africa Nations Cup qualifying game against Nigeria. Now being a coach myself I can understand why Hey was so upset with his employers for calling up players not in his original squad, but the fact of the matter is that the side needed these playing in the squad if they were to hold onto any hope of beating Nigeria (a point proved by the fact Oliech got the opening goal in their eventual 2-3 loss). After his failed attempts to cry foul on the shoulders of every high profile political friend in Nairobi, Hey sneaked out of Nairobi on a late night flight to Cairo and has seemingly cut all ties with the country.

Now, I’m not UN mediator, but the obvious solution to resolving this issue would have been for Hey to meet with his bosses at the FKL, allow both sides to explain their positions and try and come to some sort of middle ground before the country plays one of their biggest matches in recent years. But they didn’t, and I suppose that as much a failure on FKL’s part as Hey’s.

Assistant coach Twahir Muhiddin has taken control of the side for the time being, whilst the FKL try and untangle themselves out of a quagmire that could see them loss a considerable amount of money if they are forced to fire the disgruntled German.

Kenya’s CECAFA Cup squad is also without the expertise of six of their most talented players; Dennis Oliech, Emmanuel Ake, Victor Mugabe, Macdonald Mariga, Musa Otieno and Peter Opiyo.

With all of this rumbling on what the CECAFA supremo should really be doing is encouraging Kenyan fans to rally around their national side rather than place undue pressure on the Stars.

Despite all of this Kenyan fans should be going into the tournament feeling quietly confident that their side can reach at least the Quarter finals. The positive performance against Nigeria was encouraging, Twahir seems to have shunned the negative 5-3-2 formation deployed by Hey and that should allow him to work on fielding a more balanced side that can be more effective in the transition.

clinical swiss win in abuja

As most of you will be aware, the Golden Eaglets we’re beaten 1-0 by the Swiss in the final of the U17 World Cup on Sunday. It was a thoroughly entertaining game; the Nigerian’s dominated the first half, playing some lovely football but failed to convert their chances. The Swiss then took control in the second and in the 63rd minute their number nine Haris Seferovic did what Sani Emmanuel and Aigbe Oliha failed to do in the first half… find the back of the net.

It’s certainly disappointing to see the Golden Eaglets fall at the last hurdle but for me the performance of teams – and you could say individuals – is more important than results at U17 level. If this rule is to be applied then Nigerian fans should feel quietly content that a side seemingly rushed together – after fifteen of the original squad members had to be dropped after MRI scans revealed they were over-aged – delivered the kind of collective and individual displays that saw them overcome sides like Spain, Argentina and South Korea in such impressive style.

Anyway, for those of you wanting to read more on the game you can see a full report on the FIFA website.

the state of ugandan football

I’ve been meaning to do a post on the current state of Ugandan football for some time now, highlighting – among other things – the Cranes relative success achieved under the stewardship of Scottish coach Bobby Williamson. Uganda are currently the highest ranked side, by FIFA, in East Africa sat at 77th in the overall standings and 14th on the continental list, above nations such as South Africa, Mozambique and Togo. This surprisingly high ranking for a side not currently competing in the 2010 World Cup and 2010 Africa Nations Qualifying round has divided opinion from many football pundits in the country.

Whilst doing my daily rounds of the East African newspapers I came across a very interesting article written by Ugandan journalist Tusiime Ibrahim on the current state of the game in Ugandan, particularly the way its being run by the countries governing body. Tusiime has happily agreed to let me post part of his article on my blog (and I will endeavour to do the same with future articles written by him), those wishing to read the rest of “Bad tackles dragging Ugandan football backwards” can do so from the link below the first three paragraphs; enjoy!

the cranes star striker brian umony

When the current embattled Federation of Uganda Football Association(FUFA) president replaced Dennis Obua at the helm of this country’s football authority, many soccer fans across the country thought that the problems that had stifled the growth of the country’ game had come to an end.

The election of Lawrence Mulindwa was seen as a panacea to our country’s deteriorating level of football that was presided over by an allegedly corrupt Dennis Obua regime that drove many soccer lovers out of local football and into the arms of foreign football. The fans saw no reason in watching local matches whose results would be determined even before the kick off.

The early years of the Mulindwa administration saw what many hoped was a revival of truly competitive football, prompting a return of some fans back to stadia. The euphoria was shortlived as the new administration quickly fell prey to the same ills that bedevilled previous football leadership.

To read the rest of “Bad tackles dragging Ugandan football backwards” please visit: http://bit.ly/2mfQ4n

Those interested in contacting Tusiime can do so at: tusiime_ibrahim@yahoo.com