It is true Kenya's 2-1 win against Angola in the ongoing African Cup of Nations qualifiers revived our qualification dreams but the question is: shall we be able to withstand the forthcoming pressure in the form of crunch away games in Uganda and Angola?
Three things came out clearly as Kenya battled from a goal down to win the match. First, this was not a decent display by the national team - it was a great escape. Apart from totally dominating in all departments in the first half, the Southern Africans could easily have been 3-0 up by half time but for the heroics of goalkeeper Arnold Origi and an off-the-line clearance by defender Dennis Odhiambo.
Secondly, the match revealed that a lot needs to be done to improve our defence, which might ultimately determine whether we qualify for 2012 or not. Joseph Shikokoti was very slow both on and off the ball, Situma performed better going forward than defending and Edgar Ochieng was caught out of position on several occasions. Dennis Odhiambo had a slightly decent performance, but still, the Angolans penetrated Kenya's defence through his side too frequently.
This should not be the case as Kenya has produced great defences over the years. Think of players like Hassan Juma, John 'Bobby' Ogolla, Austine Oduor Vincent Kwarula and Sammy Omollo, amongst the many defenders that have made Kenya proud in the not-so distant past.
Even very recently, under the stewardship of Francis Kimanzi, Kenya enjoyed solid defence performances courtesy of the partnership of George Owino and Edgar Ochieng in central defence and John Njoroge on left back. Clearly, coach Zedekiah 'Zico' Otieno must shuffle his defence unit if he hopes to continue enjoying the fickle support of Kenyan football fans.
The introduction of Jamal Mohammed and Victor Mugabe in the second half brought life and creativity to Kenya's mid field. these two enabled Kenya to score the two goals that won us the match. They proved that we have highly talented players that can use individual brilliance to change the course of a match. Any one who saw Nigeria's Austin 'Jay Jay' Okocha's exploits in mid field will easily agree with me that on a good day Jamal Mohammed would have gone head-to-head with the great Nigerian mid field wizard.
Clearly, the onus is on Kenya's coaches to know when and where to play which mid fielder - in other words, if these gifted Kenyan mid fielders are properly selected and deployed on the pitch, Kenyans will have nothing to fear, as far as that department is concerned.
It is in the striking department that Kenya appears weakest. It is noteworthy that the two goals against Angola were scored by mid fielders. the striking trio of Bob Mugalia, Dennis Oliech and John "Black Berry" Odhiambo failed to deliver and Odhiambo had to be pulled out. Oliech threatened on several occasions but one could easily deduce that his menacing goal-bound runs and lethal strikes that have tormented African great defences, such as those of Tunisia, Morocco, Guinea and Nigeria, were missing.
It might be that the continued use of the Kenyan striker as an attacking mid fielder by his French club, Auxerre, has affected his approach of play, or it might be that he has just cooled off and will be back to his old lethal self. If so, it better be sooner rather than later. Still, we must discover another great striker soon. It is not healthy to continue our total dependence on Oliech.
03 April 2011
Sofapaka’s victory over Ismaily a turning point for Kenyan football clubs?
When Sofapaka traveled to Egypt and received a 2-0 beating from Ismaily in the CAF Confederations Cup 2nd round first leg tie, Football historians quickly drew their conclusions: the end result would be familiar – the Egyptians would go to Nairobi, force out a barren (or any other draw), and bundle out the Kenyan club, ‘just like in all previous encounters’.
Only a year ago, Ismaily had booted Sofapaka out of the CAF Champions League with an identical 2-0 score at home and a 0-0 draw in Nairobi. To paint Sofapaka’s prospects even darker, the local media kept reminding readers that no Kenyan team had ever eliminated an Egyptian club from continental competition. The great AFC Leopards and Gor Mahia squads of the 70s and 80s had attempted to end this jinx but they always ended up on the losing side.
It was therefore unbelievable, both for Kenyan and Egyptian football fans, that Sofapaka had eliminated Ismaily FC from the CAF Confederations Cup with a 4-0 thrashing in Nairobi and a 4-2 aggregate score. They thus rewrote Kenyan football history by becoming the first local side to eliminate an Egyptian side from African competition.
Yet, on deep reflection, perhaps we shouldn’t be so amazed. Sofapaka have already achieved so much within a very short time, the greatest - being crowned Kenyan Premier League Champions in the club’s first year in the Premier League. A close scrutiny of this club reveals that they have all the requisite ingredients for success.
Ambition is very important for any successful undertaking and Sofapaka have proved that they have plenty of it. Look at their player recruitment policy. The club has not shied away from spending heavily in order to recruit the best players in the local league – their playing unit is comprised of players from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Congo DR, Burundi and (until the end of 2010 season), Nigeria.
The club also clearly rates competence highly when recruiting coaches. Their first coach in the premier league, Mr Robert Matano, was a highly respected tactician but he was quickly shoved aside when the club felt he had reached the summit of his potential. When the highly rated Sam Ssimbwa, poached from the Uganda national team, failed to deliver after only a few months on the job, he was quietly shown the door and the club’s president went for, arguably, the best coach in Kenya today, Mr Francis Kimanzi.
Additionally, the club is run very professionally. Mr Ally Kalekwa, the club’s flamboyant president, is the local equivalent of Chelsea’s Roman Abramovich in terms of desire and demand for results. He invests heavily in the club, insists on proper and professional football management, then demands that players and coaching staff deliver on the pitch.
Contrast this with the vague leadership structures of Kenya’s institutional clubs or the utter confused and politicized management that is the norm amongst the country’s community clubs, some of which, like Re Union and Shabana, have been driven into extinction by these clueless leaders.
If you doubt Sofapaka’s organization, just follow their supporters through a few matches and you will discover a deliberately organized corporate branding process. The supporters have developed a very well choreographed and identifiable cheering routine, complete with well designed costumes. The club’s cheering squad’s passion is perhaps second only to that of Gor Mahia fans.
Finally, Sofapaka players have shown admirable commitment whenever they have found themselves in a do-or-die situation. When they knew they had to beat Ulinzi Stars away in Nakuru to win the 2009 Kenya Premier League, they came out fighting and never relented until the final whistle. Indeed, the self-belief and desire of these players in the various championship and knock out duels they have been involved in has been really astounding.
Two goals down after the first leg in Egypt,and with history harshly against them, club captain James Situma had this to say when asked about their chances: “Yes, the Egyptians have always been on top of us and it will be a hard job but not impossible. We simply have to score at least three goals and not concede a goal”.
After 90 minutes of fast paced and inspired performance, the club had put four goals past the fighting Egyptians. Now it is up to other Kenyan clubs to copy this fighting spirit and ensure that henceforth, Egyptian clubs and national team will not celebrate whenever they are drawn against Kenyan opposition.
Only a year ago, Ismaily had booted Sofapaka out of the CAF Champions League with an identical 2-0 score at home and a 0-0 draw in Nairobi. To paint Sofapaka’s prospects even darker, the local media kept reminding readers that no Kenyan team had ever eliminated an Egyptian club from continental competition. The great AFC Leopards and Gor Mahia squads of the 70s and 80s had attempted to end this jinx but they always ended up on the losing side.
It was therefore unbelievable, both for Kenyan and Egyptian football fans, that Sofapaka had eliminated Ismaily FC from the CAF Confederations Cup with a 4-0 thrashing in Nairobi and a 4-2 aggregate score. They thus rewrote Kenyan football history by becoming the first local side to eliminate an Egyptian side from African competition.
Yet, on deep reflection, perhaps we shouldn’t be so amazed. Sofapaka have already achieved so much within a very short time, the greatest - being crowned Kenyan Premier League Champions in the club’s first year in the Premier League. A close scrutiny of this club reveals that they have all the requisite ingredients for success.
Ambition is very important for any successful undertaking and Sofapaka have proved that they have plenty of it. Look at their player recruitment policy. The club has not shied away from spending heavily in order to recruit the best players in the local league – their playing unit is comprised of players from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Congo DR, Burundi and (until the end of 2010 season), Nigeria.
The club also clearly rates competence highly when recruiting coaches. Their first coach in the premier league, Mr Robert Matano, was a highly respected tactician but he was quickly shoved aside when the club felt he had reached the summit of his potential. When the highly rated Sam Ssimbwa, poached from the Uganda national team, failed to deliver after only a few months on the job, he was quietly shown the door and the club’s president went for, arguably, the best coach in Kenya today, Mr Francis Kimanzi.
Additionally, the club is run very professionally. Mr Ally Kalekwa, the club’s flamboyant president, is the local equivalent of Chelsea’s Roman Abramovich in terms of desire and demand for results. He invests heavily in the club, insists on proper and professional football management, then demands that players and coaching staff deliver on the pitch.
Contrast this with the vague leadership structures of Kenya’s institutional clubs or the utter confused and politicized management that is the norm amongst the country’s community clubs, some of which, like Re Union and Shabana, have been driven into extinction by these clueless leaders.
If you doubt Sofapaka’s organization, just follow their supporters through a few matches and you will discover a deliberately organized corporate branding process. The supporters have developed a very well choreographed and identifiable cheering routine, complete with well designed costumes. The club’s cheering squad’s passion is perhaps second only to that of Gor Mahia fans.
Finally, Sofapaka players have shown admirable commitment whenever they have found themselves in a do-or-die situation. When they knew they had to beat Ulinzi Stars away in Nakuru to win the 2009 Kenya Premier League, they came out fighting and never relented until the final whistle. Indeed, the self-belief and desire of these players in the various championship and knock out duels they have been involved in has been really astounding.
Two goals down after the first leg in Egypt,and with history harshly against them, club captain James Situma had this to say when asked about their chances: “Yes, the Egyptians have always been on top of us and it will be a hard job but not impossible. We simply have to score at least three goals and not concede a goal”.
After 90 minutes of fast paced and inspired performance, the club had put four goals past the fighting Egyptians. Now it is up to other Kenyan clubs to copy this fighting spirit and ensure that henceforth, Egyptian clubs and national team will not celebrate whenever they are drawn against Kenyan opposition.
20 February 2011
Ulinzi’s brawn comes up against Sofapaka’s flair in Supersport Super Cup
As Ulinzi appeared certain winners of the 2010 KPL championships, I warned Kenyans to brace for a disappointing return to the CAF Champions League . I argued that the military side’s shoot-and-chase, bulldozer-approach of play stood no chance against polished African sides. I even suggested that the side could change its fortunes with acquisition of talented midfielders. (see my "Ulinzi Unstoppable" post).
Well, my grousing was vindicated three weeks ago, when a completely clueless and spineless Ulinzi side capitulated in the face of a marauding and ruthless Zamalek FC, one of the greatest teams on the African continent. When the final whistle was blown, the soldiers had conceded four goals without reply, making the return fixture a predictable formality.
On the eve of the match, the Kenyan champions had visited their superiors, where they received “military orders” to ensure victory against their Egyptian opponents, in other words, a win by all means - including keeper-to-striker passing.
In contrast, 2008 KPL champions Sofapaka conjured up an unlikely victory against Angolan established club AS Aviacao in the CAF Confederations Cup, drawing 0-0 in Angola and at home, before triumphing 5-4 in the resultant penalty shoot-out.
Today, Ulinzi returns to Nyayo National Stadium, where they received their football humiliation from Zamalek, this time to play FKL Cup winners Sofapaka in the Supersport Super Cup. I can, almost with one hundred per cent certainty, predict that the soldiers will bulldoze their way to another ‘famous’ victory against Sofapaka who, nonetheless, shall have out-played them in all departments.
God help Kenyan football.
Well, my grousing was vindicated three weeks ago, when a completely clueless and spineless Ulinzi side capitulated in the face of a marauding and ruthless Zamalek FC, one of the greatest teams on the African continent. When the final whistle was blown, the soldiers had conceded four goals without reply, making the return fixture a predictable formality.
On the eve of the match, the Kenyan champions had visited their superiors, where they received “military orders” to ensure victory against their Egyptian opponents, in other words, a win by all means - including keeper-to-striker passing.
In contrast, 2008 KPL champions Sofapaka conjured up an unlikely victory against Angolan established club AS Aviacao in the CAF Confederations Cup, drawing 0-0 in Angola and at home, before triumphing 5-4 in the resultant penalty shoot-out.
Today, Ulinzi returns to Nyayo National Stadium, where they received their football humiliation from Zamalek, this time to play FKL Cup winners Sofapaka in the Supersport Super Cup. I can, almost with one hundred per cent certainty, predict that the soldiers will bulldoze their way to another ‘famous’ victory against Sofapaka who, nonetheless, shall have out-played them in all departments.
God help Kenyan football.
2011 KPL season kicks off in high gear
Thanks to KPL broadcasting rights holders Supersport, the new local football season promises to be even more exciting. First up is the season opener Supersport Super Cup match-up between 2010 FKL Champions Ulinzi Stars and Sofapaka, the 2010 FKL Cup Champions.
Winners of the cup will pocket Ksh 750, 000 while Ksh 500,000 will be pocketed by the losers. While these are modest prizes, they are a good start nonetheless, considering that previous Super Cups were contested for pride alone, with no rewards whatsoever.
When the first tie of the 2011 season finally kicks off in a week’s time, it shall herald an unprecedented feast of week-after-week live football for Kenyan football lovers, this after Supersport committed to screen close to 90 matches live.
According to Supersport’s head of Africa Service, Gary Rathbone, this will be made possible by the introduction of a second Outside Broadcast van, which will enable the company to broadcast live television matches every weekend, “some of them double headers”.
Additionally, the broadcasts will be spread to cover Mombasa, Mumias and Kakamega, besides the traditional coverage areas of Nairobi, Thika, Naivasha and Nakuru.
The only issue that continues to escape the attention of local fixture masters is that there exists a formidable competitor to the Kenyan Premier league – the English Premier League.
Where a local fan has to choose between watching Manchester United, or Arsenal playing on the one hand, or Ulinzi Stars or Western Stima on the other, which way would the loyalty pendulum sway? You can bet your last dime the English powerhouses would carry the day, any day.
A viable option out of this scenario would be to enhance the midweek match day offerings, and even consider introducing Friday evening match days as well, after all, the Italian and German leagues have been doing this for as long as I can remember.
Winners of the cup will pocket Ksh 750, 000 while Ksh 500,000 will be pocketed by the losers. While these are modest prizes, they are a good start nonetheless, considering that previous Super Cups were contested for pride alone, with no rewards whatsoever.
When the first tie of the 2011 season finally kicks off in a week’s time, it shall herald an unprecedented feast of week-after-week live football for Kenyan football lovers, this after Supersport committed to screen close to 90 matches live.
According to Supersport’s head of Africa Service, Gary Rathbone, this will be made possible by the introduction of a second Outside Broadcast van, which will enable the company to broadcast live television matches every weekend, “some of them double headers”.
Additionally, the broadcasts will be spread to cover Mombasa, Mumias and Kakamega, besides the traditional coverage areas of Nairobi, Thika, Naivasha and Nakuru.
The only issue that continues to escape the attention of local fixture masters is that there exists a formidable competitor to the Kenyan Premier league – the English Premier League.
Where a local fan has to choose between watching Manchester United, or Arsenal playing on the one hand, or Ulinzi Stars or Western Stima on the other, which way would the loyalty pendulum sway? You can bet your last dime the English powerhouses would carry the day, any day.
A viable option out of this scenario would be to enhance the midweek match day offerings, and even consider introducing Friday evening match days as well, after all, the Italian and German leagues have been doing this for as long as I can remember.
06 February 2011
Tactical or financial considerations for Stars friendly against South Africa?
As part of their preparations for an African Cup of Nations 2012 qualifiers tie, South Africa chose to face Harambee Stars on 9th February, 2011. Interestingly, Kenya was not the first choice for Bafana Bafana. The South Africans’ next opponents happen to be Egypt; hence, the South African Football Association (SAFA) had planned to invite North African opposition for the FIFA sanctioned International friendlies’ date.
When SAFA failed to secure agreement with their preferred North African opponents, they approached Burkina Farso, who also declined. Hence, the South Africa versus Kenya tie was hurriedly fixed after consultations with Football Kenya Limited, and predictably, without the input of the national team‘s technical bench.
In typical present day Kenyan fashion, where everything occurs in parallels, Government appointed Harambee Stars Management Board arranged a Kenya vs Zambia tie at Nyayo National Stadium on the same day. The reasoning being that Since Kenya will play Angola (our next AFCON qualifiers opponents) at home; it made tactical sense to organize for the team to face a strong Southern African opponent in Nairobi.
FKL quickly rejected this proposal and concluded the South African deal, wondering how friendlies could be organized behind the company’s back and arguing that South Africa was a superior opponent to Zambia.
“South Africa played in the World Cup. They are a high profile team. They are a big catch for us and it will be an honour playing them,” argued Patrick Naggi, FKL’s Technical Director.
FKL also argued that the South Africans were providing everything (read financial incentives); including flying the European based players to South Africa and back. They further argued that playing in South Africa would be more motivating to the players than playing in Nairobi.
Whereas all these arguments make business sense (considering that Kenya would have to provide Zambia with various incentives to bring them to Nairobi) it is important to point out that FKL have blundered far too often when it comes to preparing the national team for international friendlies. On numerous occasions, the company has ferried the team to Middle Eastern cities to play meaningless and energy sapping friendlies simply because there were some financial gains to be made.
While the management board appeared to have genuine intentions of tactically preparing the team for forthcoming engagements, the same cannot be said of FKL. What should be prioritized: the ego of playing a big team and making some cash in the process, or coughing out some cash to bring an appropriately selected team to Nairobi so that the coach can try out his plans for a forthcoming crucial football tie?
Unfortunately, we don’t have the coach’s views in this matter. Former Stars Coach Francis Kimanzi was a no-nonsense and straight talking tactician who was not scared to point out when a friendly was beneficial to the team and when it was a waste of time. Perhaps, Coach Zedekiah Otieno is scared of speaking out against the South African trip lest he gets the sack, considering that he is serving in temporary capacity.
But the team’s Assistant Coach Salim Ali offered what he said was personal opinion, saying: “To be sincere we in the technical bench requested the board to play a strong team at home since we are preparing for the Angola game which will be played in Nairobi. I am surprised that now FKL want to flex their muscle to the board and yet they have no money to run the national team. How does FKL operate without even asking the technical bench on their opinion? “
Obviously, the Assistant Coach would have chosen the Zambian tie if it was up to him to make the choice.
It is high time the Harambee Stars Management Board asserted its authority over Stars’ management before the perennially blundering, and self-centered FKL takes us through another embarrassing and smack-into-brick wall AFCON qualifiers. The Board should professionally contract a national team coach and draw up and implement a technically sound training programme for the team.
However, this won’t be easy, considering the melodramatic nature of the selfish football mafia that continues to create mess after mess in Kenya’s football. What further evidence does one need that FKL is the worst thing to ever happen in the local football scene than this statement by Hussein Swaleh, FKL's Technical Committee chairman:
“The board should have their boundaries and respect us as a federation since they are neither recognized by CAF or Fifa. The federation has the sole responsibility to facilitate any friendly match between two federations. The same applies to the Angola match; all correspondence will come through FKL.”
When SAFA failed to secure agreement with their preferred North African opponents, they approached Burkina Farso, who also declined. Hence, the South Africa versus Kenya tie was hurriedly fixed after consultations with Football Kenya Limited, and predictably, without the input of the national team‘s technical bench.
In typical present day Kenyan fashion, where everything occurs in parallels, Government appointed Harambee Stars Management Board arranged a Kenya vs Zambia tie at Nyayo National Stadium on the same day. The reasoning being that Since Kenya will play Angola (our next AFCON qualifiers opponents) at home; it made tactical sense to organize for the team to face a strong Southern African opponent in Nairobi.
FKL quickly rejected this proposal and concluded the South African deal, wondering how friendlies could be organized behind the company’s back and arguing that South Africa was a superior opponent to Zambia.
“South Africa played in the World Cup. They are a high profile team. They are a big catch for us and it will be an honour playing them,” argued Patrick Naggi, FKL’s Technical Director.
FKL also argued that the South Africans were providing everything (read financial incentives); including flying the European based players to South Africa and back. They further argued that playing in South Africa would be more motivating to the players than playing in Nairobi.
Whereas all these arguments make business sense (considering that Kenya would have to provide Zambia with various incentives to bring them to Nairobi) it is important to point out that FKL have blundered far too often when it comes to preparing the national team for international friendlies. On numerous occasions, the company has ferried the team to Middle Eastern cities to play meaningless and energy sapping friendlies simply because there were some financial gains to be made.
While the management board appeared to have genuine intentions of tactically preparing the team for forthcoming engagements, the same cannot be said of FKL. What should be prioritized: the ego of playing a big team and making some cash in the process, or coughing out some cash to bring an appropriately selected team to Nairobi so that the coach can try out his plans for a forthcoming crucial football tie?
Unfortunately, we don’t have the coach’s views in this matter. Former Stars Coach Francis Kimanzi was a no-nonsense and straight talking tactician who was not scared to point out when a friendly was beneficial to the team and when it was a waste of time. Perhaps, Coach Zedekiah Otieno is scared of speaking out against the South African trip lest he gets the sack, considering that he is serving in temporary capacity.
But the team’s Assistant Coach Salim Ali offered what he said was personal opinion, saying: “To be sincere we in the technical bench requested the board to play a strong team at home since we are preparing for the Angola game which will be played in Nairobi. I am surprised that now FKL want to flex their muscle to the board and yet they have no money to run the national team. How does FKL operate without even asking the technical bench on their opinion? “
Obviously, the Assistant Coach would have chosen the Zambian tie if it was up to him to make the choice.
It is high time the Harambee Stars Management Board asserted its authority over Stars’ management before the perennially blundering, and self-centered FKL takes us through another embarrassing and smack-into-brick wall AFCON qualifiers. The Board should professionally contract a national team coach and draw up and implement a technically sound training programme for the team.
However, this won’t be easy, considering the melodramatic nature of the selfish football mafia that continues to create mess after mess in Kenya’s football. What further evidence does one need that FKL is the worst thing to ever happen in the local football scene than this statement by Hussein Swaleh, FKL's Technical Committee chairman:
“The board should have their boundaries and respect us as a federation since they are neither recognized by CAF or Fifa. The federation has the sole responsibility to facilitate any friendly match between two federations. The same applies to the Angola match; all correspondence will come through FKL.”
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