Tusker's barren draw in Dar tells same Kenyan sad footballing story

Kenya's Tusker FC finally took the pitch in Dar es Salaam against Mafunzo of Zanzibar as they launched their campaign to win the CECAFA Kagame Cup, which they last won in 2008. And that is a story in itself because apart from that win, no Kenyan club has won the competition since 2001, when the brewers last brought the cup to Kenya.

Right from the opening minutes, Tusker displayed a very lethargic approach of play, moving the ball towards their opponents almost at walking pace. Theirs was a perfect example of Gor Coach Zdavko Logarusic's recent assertion that the pace of Kenya's players was too slow.

If this was a deliberate tactical attempt to slow down the game, the strategy clearly backfired, especially in the second half, as it allowed Mafunzo to confidently pass the ball around, even launching dangerous attacks on Tusker's goal.

It is only towards the end of the match that Tusker displayed some urgency in their attack. During this period, a charging Obadiah Ndege was brought down almost inside the penalty area. The resultant free kick by David Ochieng hit the cross bar but it was the most threatening shot at Mafunzo's goal. One wonders if a more pacy performance wouldn't have created such or even more fruitful goal scoring chances.

But it was the non-performance of the strikers that was most telling. Even when they managed to create goal scoring opportunities, the strikers' shots were either wayward or feeble, which begs the question: whatever happened to the training of strikers in Kenya? Whether it is at national or club level, Kenya's strikers have remained consistent in only one aspect: pathetic.

It is only the first round but already, strikers from Burundi's Atletico, Rwanda's APR and Uganda's URA  clubs have appeared very sharp and lively, and more importantly, productive.

If Tusker makes it out of their group, one can only fear for the Ruaraka boys as these teams have displayed very high technical and tactical standards in their matches. Let us hope Tusker will have learnt a few lessons by the time they face their next group opponents, Azam FC of Tanzania.