As the dust settles on Harambee Stars qualification for the final round of the African Nations Cup/ World Cup 2010 qualifiers, we need to ask ourselves this question,"where do we go from here?" Are the Stars going to face more upheaval with Francis Kimanzi's tenure as head coach uncertain or will they be accorded all the support and stability required to bring out more sterling performances?
The draw for the final round of qualifying takes place on Wednesday 22nd October 2008 in Zurich where Kenya gets to know here opponents for the final round. What plans does the KFF or the people handling the Stars have in store? To the best of my knowledge there are several FIFA sanctioned dates for friendlies between October and March 2009 when the qualifiers kick off. It would be ideal for the KFF to organize several fixtures both home and away in readiness for the task at hand. Let them not wait for the CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup, it is upon the KFF to take the initiative to keep the Stars' busy in the interim. It is amazing how the Stars' qualified for the final round having played only ONE build match against Malawi while other federations took advantage of the FIFA sanctioned dates tokeep their representative sides busy.
It is imperative that the team stays together, and stays active so as to improve the team's general performance. It is worth noting that Dennis Oliech bagged five of Kenya's eight goals during the first stage of qualifying. This is simplistic thinking but don't you think that having the team play more matches together will bring out more goal scorers as well as more talent in all departments. Keeping the team busy would also help identify areas requiring corrective action. It is important to note that in the recent loss to Guinea, Kenya conceded two goals from setpiece situations.
The recent fixture in Guinea exposed Kenya's weaknesses in playing away from home, the team was subdued for large spells of the game,threatening but lacking lacking confidence though their fightback with eight minutes left spoke volumes. I hold the view that if, in the forthcoming period,if the KFF were able to keep the team together and get them to play fixtures away from home in hostile environments, we could be in serious contention for a berth at the Cup of Nations in Angola and it would be realistic to dream about playing in the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa.Just look at Nakuru RFC's steady rise to prominence, they have been together for close to three years and are slowing staking a claim as one of the teams to beat on the Kenya club rugby scene.If a community based club from Nakuru has reaped the benefits of growing a team, why can't the KFF? This,in my opinion is the first step towards making Kenya an African footballing powerhouse.
Monday, October 20, 2008
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