When Kartoum National Club was paired against APR in the first quarter final of the 2015 CECAFA Kagame Cup being held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, all the money was on APR swiftly sending the newcomers of East African football back home.
Instead,Al Khartoum effectively ended the quarter final contest in the first half after they put three goals past the hapless Rwandese club without reply.
The team adopted a relaxed mode in the second half but still managed to add one more goal for a 4-0 whipping of an experienced APR side that looked totally lost. to put the tie in perspective, APR had won all three of their group matches, scoring five goals and conceding only one.
The Sudanese club only secured a spot at the 2015 CECAFA Kagame Cup after champions El Merreick requested to be excused from the tournament so that they could concentrate on the CAF Champions League. The club from Khartoum has ended up becoming the highest scorers at this year's tournament so far.
After seeing off Djibouti's Telekom with a 5-0 hammering, Al Khartoum went on to dispatch Zanzibar's KMKM 2-1 before holding fancied Gor Mahia of Kenya 1-1 in a match they could easily have won. The club lost narrowly against Yanga, conceding 0-1 in their final group match. The club's four goals against APR have increased their tally to 12 scored against 3 conceded.
Not only is the club clinical in front of goal, they also play neat, passing and tactical football. Yet this is their first ever appearence at the East and Central African club championships. What might be the secret to the success being enjoyed by the club in Tanzania?
For one, Sudanese clubs are reputed to be some of the wealthiest on the African continent. So money is definitely a factor. But how you spend money when you have it is also crucial. And here the club seems to be doing really well.
The composition of the team has looked solid right from goal to attack, meaning they have recruited quite well. Amongst the squad's foreign players is Kenya's Anthony 'Teddy' Okumu, who has performed quite well in his midfield position so far.
To me, the most brilliant move by the Sudanese club has been hiring Ghanaian Kwesi Appiah, who, lest we forget, took Ghana to the 2014 World Cup and missed the second round by a whisker in a group of death that included World Cup Champions Germany, USA and Portugal.
This is one vastly experienced and skillful coach you do not want to be playing against, and Al Khartoum must be feeling extremely special with the coach in their ranks. When asked about the secret of defeating APR, coach Appiah said that he had asked his charges to utilise the chances they got and to stop APR from playing - and they did exactly that.
Clearly, the story of Khartoum's East African achievements is just starting being told and whoever meets the Sudanese team in the semi-finals had better watch out carefully.
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