Kenya vs Zambia: Who will blink first?

Kenya returns to the pitch on Sunday 6th against Zambia intent on securing her first win of the 2017 Afcon qualifiers and boosting chances of appearing at the continental football tournament for the first time since 2004.

That is easier said, though, as Zambia have a higher pedigree in African football compared to Kenya. After all, the Chipolopolo are regular Afcon finals participants and actually won the tournament in 2012.

Ranked 18th in Africa and 73rd in the world, Zambia are 43 places above Kenya in the global FIFA rankings.

All countries in Kenya’s Afcon group E (including Guinea Bissau and Congo) are on one point after the first round of matches, where Kenya drew 1-1 with Congo and Zambia were held to a 0-0 draw by Guinea Bissau. Does that give Kenya hope?

The last time Kenya met Zambia in the Afcon qualifiers was in 1999, when the Zambians won 1-0 home and away. In fact, Kenya have not beaten Zambia in the Afcon before and the overall head-to-head record is overwhelmingly in favour of Zambia.

Since the two countries first met in 1964, they have played each other 34 times, with Kenya winning six times, drawing six times and losing 22 times. The most recent encounter was during the 2009 CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup tournament held in Nairobi where Harambee Stars lost 0-2 to the Zambians.

Against this background, do we stand any chance of beating the Zambians and enhancing our chances of qualifying for Gabon 2017? At the start of the qualifying process, it would have been very easy to answer ‘yes’, especially after Kenya threatened to embarrass the highly fancied Congolese in their own backyard before a schoolboy mistake by defender Jackson Saleh gifted them a penalty and the match ended one all.

Two months later, Kenyan fans’ apprehension must be growing that come Sunday evening, they might find themselves on the loosing side yet again.

This should not be the case, especially now that Kenya can again boast of decently talented footballers. We now have numerous players featuring competitively in foreign leagues, the most prominent being undoubtedly Southampton’s Victor Wanyama.

For the first time in a long while, we have a situation where coach Bobby Williamson is spoilt for choice in terms of selecting strikers. Gor Mahia’s Michael Olunga and Tusker FC’s Jesse Were are enjoying top scoring form in the SportsPesa Premier League while Jacob Keli must have learnt one new trick or two from his experience playing in the Zambian league.

As talented as Kenya’s current squad is, the issue of poor preparations might return to haunt us as the case has been many times in the past. Responding to journalists questions after a training session, coach Williamson acknowledged that Zambia had enjoyed better preparations than Kenya and as such held an edge leading to the Sunday encounter.

"Of course, they (Zambia) will always have an advantage but it (early preparation) was out of our hands . It was a question of whether we will have the players and whether the clubs would release them,” said Mr Williamson.

If one were not from Kenya, it would be easy to wonder how the Zambians managed to organise a three-week training programme for their national team while Harambee Stars are counting on four days of training to put together a winning formula against their dangerous opponents.

However, as Kenyans, we know that FKF hardly ever gets anything right. They are the classic ‘reap where you did not sow’ kind of organisation. They are probably already preparing to praise themselves in case of a win and to blame someone if we lose. It was especially disheartening to hear a FKF official talking of ticketing arrangements when he was asked abouk Kenya's preparations for the match.

One other problem facing Kenya is the mental strength of captain Victor Wanyama, whose attempt to engineer a move to Tottenham Spurs was swiftly snuffed out, accompanied with a strong warning from Saints coach Ronald Koeman. Is he currently in the right frame of mind to play?

Additionally, a comedy of errors meant that Paul Were’s  mooted move to Gor Mahia never materialised and the player has thus missed precious playing time. Considering that he was Kenya’s brightest player in Congo, that is a great loss indeed.

And there is the small matter of goalkeeping. Kenya’s most reliable goalkeeper has been Arnold Origi for a long while now. While he has already played close to 2000 minutes for his club Lillestrom of Norway, the player seems reluctant to continue serving his motherland with dedication, yet that is the least we can ask of him.

If Origi is a no show again, we shall be left with the option of Gor Mahia’s  Boniface Oluoch, who will definitely torture millions of Kenyans silently praying for 90 minutes that he does not have one of his bad days in goal.

Having said all that, my hope is that we shall get that first Afcon win against Zambia and improve our chances of going to Gabon 2017. We have that Kenyan spirit that seems to drive us on even in the midst of the toughest of challenges. After all, we have home ground advantage - the 12th player. So, Go! Go! Stars!

Hooligans decide Gor Mahia, AFC Leopards tie

The 2015 SportsPesa Premier League second leg tie between Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards was shaping up into one of the most entertaining mashemeji derby of recent times until acts of hooliganism brought the tie to its premature end in the 65th minute.

Gor versus AFC Leopards is always an explosive affair regardless of each team’s form. Gor Mahia are currently riding high as the unbeaten, run-away premier league leaders seeking their third consecutive league title. Leopards, on their part, are struggling in position five of the log , having last won the premier league in 1998.

This did not however stop the Ingwe supporters from pouring into Nyayo National Stadium, almost matching the huge turnout of the green army of Gor supporters, as both sets of fans sought to have their own say in the latest display of Kenya’s greatest club football rivalry.

Gor’s superiority showed throughout the match as they pounded the Leopards’ goal with crosses, some of which should have been converted into goals by the likes of Michael Olunga and Khalid Aucho but for keeper Lukas Indeche’s heroics.

Then in the 65th minute, AFC Leopards’ defender Jackson Saleh handled the ball and the referee pointed to the spot straight away. It was a clear and incontestable penalty but Leopards fans would not let Gor take it, instead throwing objects on the pitch and causing the match to be abandoned for security reasons.

I am beginning to wonder whether AFC leopard’s  Jackson Saleh derives some kind of pleasure from handling the ball in his penalty area. For heaven’s sake,  how can one explain the defender’s handling of the ball in the penalty area in three high stake matches in a row?

In June during Kenya’s first Afcon qualifier match against Congo,  Saleh denied Kenya a precious win in Congo by unnecessarily handling the ball in the penalty area. Two weeks later, he did the same against Ethiopia and contributed to Kenya’s elimination from the CHAN qualifiers.

Whatever the reasons for Saleh’s repeated errors, the latest handed Gor an opportunity to break the deadlock and pile more pressure on the Ingwe den but as stated, Ingwe fans thought otherwise.

While Leopards fans cannot escape responsibility for causing the tie’s abandonment, the incident also proved that we still have a long way in reaching high standards of stadium security management that are a prerequisite for a professionally run football league.

Although Gor fans behaved admirably during Ingwe fans provocation, there had been some disturbance at half time and referring to the disturbance, the match commissioner was quoted by Supersport explaining that he had asked the police to separate Gor and Leopards fans by creating a buffer zone between them but his advice was ignored.

Moving forward, whatever sanctions are ordered later by the Kenya Premier League, all parties involved in Kenya’s football administration must seek ways of ensuring that going to the stadium becomes a secure, enjoyable, family-friendly experience for all football lovers in the country. Hooliganism should not be allowed to thrive in Kenyan football.

Gor's defence of premier league title unstoppable

Kenyan premier league defending champions Gor Mahia returned to the SportsPesa Premier league in style after their exploits in the recently concluded CECAFA Kagame Cup.

Coach Frank Nuttal had asked his team to return to Kenya with a bang after their 2-0 loss against Tanzania’s Azam FC in the final and, with a 6-1 battering of KCB, they surely did that and some more.

Two classic finishes in the first half were enough to disorient a KCB side that only a week before had beaten Thika United 3-2.

Olunga’s finish for Gor’s first goal was the epitome of a confident attacker's strike as he rushed forward to calmly tap in Godfrey Walusimbi’s perfectly angled pass.

Then to prove that they were currently a class above everyone else in Kenya’s top league, the team fondly called Kogallo by their adoring fans put together a move of the season that started with captain Musa Mohammed’s inch perfect long pass that beautifully found Innocent Wafula around KCB’s 18 yard box.

Wafula dribbled around KCB’s three defenders as he calculated how to launch the perfect pass. When the pass came, it sweetly fell on Meddie Kagere’s right foot and the former APR man hit the best half volley you can expect to see in a game of football to make it 2-0.

In fact, the score should have been 4-0 by half-time but Olunga had two shots brilliantly saved by goalkeeper Zakary 
Onyango.

Gor continued their relentless attack of KCB goal in the second half and in the 56th minute, Kagere launched an assured run towards goal that resulted in defender Mark Odhiambo banging the ball into his own net to make it 3-0 for Gor.

Clearly complacent after their third goal, Gor’s defence went to sleep and gave former Gor striker Paul Kiongera the chance to tap in KCB’s consolation goal.

A late ferocious shot from Olunga was excellently saved by KCB's keeper
Zakary Onyango before Kagere (with his second), midfielder Khalid Aucho and substitute Enock Agwanda put the icing on Gor’s performance for a final 6-1score.

Overall, Gor Mahia’s performance was ample proof that they indeed are playing at a level above everyone else in Kenyan football at present.

It was also proof that their participation at the CECAFA Kagame Cup has given them an edge and swagger that might be enough to wrap up their defence of the premier league title in record time.