Harambee Stars coach Sébastien Migné Saturday accompanied five national team players to Ethiopia ahead of Wednesday’s 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier which will be played at the 60,000-seater Bahir Dar stadium in Bahir Dar.
The five were Bandari goalkeeper Farouk Shikalo, Gor Mahia duo of Philemon Otieno and Francis Kahata, Abdallah Hassan (Bandari, Kenya) and Allan Wanga (Kakamega Homeboyz).
The rest of the squad, including foreign based players, is expected in Addis Ababa on Monday afternoon before the entire contingent proceeds to the northern city of Bahir Dar.
Migne, who has threatened to quit his job if the government does not remit all his dues by October 15, says that he is targeting a win in the away fixture so as to lessen the pressure on the team during the return match scheduled for Sunday next week.
“I will have maximum two days with the full squad before the game. We’ll have to work hard for a good result in this away game because if we don’t then we shall be under a lot of pressure to win in the home match.
“Of course it won’t be easy against Ethiopia since they are also equally strong, but my players are up to the task and I am confident we will get a positive result,” the Frenchman said on Friday.
Stars are in Group F alongside Ethiopia, Ghana and Sierra Leone, and they are scheduled to face the Walya Antelopes in Bahir Dar and Nairobi on October 10 and 14 respectively.
The senior men’s national team will be buoyed by last month’s historic 1-0 home win over Ghana, although they still need four points from these two matches against Ethiopia to maintain their chances of returning to the continental show piece for the first time in 14 years.
Due to a biting cash crunch within Football Kenya Federation, the national team was unable to go into residential training, meaning that the foreign based players will only have two days to train together before the crucial away game.
In a favourable twist of fate however, world football governing body Fifa on Friday suspended Sierra Leone Football Association from all activities due to government interference.
This has boosted Kenya’s chances of making it to the continental showpiece as it nullified their 2-1 loss to the Leone Stars in June last year, and also cancelled out Ethiopia’s 1-0 win on September 9.
With this development, Kenya and Ethiopia will be the only teams involved from the group in next week’s assignments with four points sufficient to seal Stars’ return to Afcon after a 14-year hiatus.
Kenya is now second in the group with three points similar to leaders Ghana.
Squad:
Goalkeepers:
Patrick Matasi (Tusker), Farouk Shikalo (Bandari)
Defenders:
Philemon Otieno (Gor Mahia), Jockins Atudo (Posta Rangers), Musa Mohammed (Nkana FC, Zambia), Brian Mandela (Maritzburg FC, South Africa), Abud Omar (Cercle Brugge, Belgium), David Ochieng (IF Brommapojkarna, Sweden), Erick Ouma (Vasalund, Sweden), Joseph Okumu (Real Monarchs, USA)
Midfielders:
Dennis Odhiambo (Sofapaka), Francis Kahata (Gor Mahia), Ismael Gonzales (Las Palmas, Spain), Victor Wanyama (Tottenham Hotspurs, England), Anthony Akumu (Zesco, Zambia), Johanna Omollo (Cercle Brugge, Belgium), Paul Were (FC Kaisar, Kazakhstan)
Forwards:
Piston Mutamba (Sofapaka), Michael Olunga (Kashiwa Reysol, Japan), Eric Johanna (IF Brommapojkarna, Sweden), Ovella Ochieng (Vasalund, Sweden)
Nation Media
