Coach Muhidin happy to return to Harambee Stars technical bench
Kenyan Premier League (KPL) side Bandari FC Technical Director Twahir Muhiddin (picture) is not your ordinary football manager.
Nicknamed ‘Sheikh’ in football circles, Muhiddin has in the past overseen the selection of quality players not only in Bandari but also national team Harambee Stars.
Muhiddin has seen the highs and lows of Kenyan football and is rated as one of the best tacticians Kenya has ever produced.
Its little wonder then, that Stars returnee coach Jacob “Ghost” Mulee named him as one of his assistants to lead Stars in the forthcoming back-to-back Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier against Comoros as well as return fixtures against Egypt and Togo.
Incidentally, Muhiddin alongside AFC Leopards and Stars legend Mickey “T9” Weche were Mulee’s understudies during the 2004 Afcon in Tunisia when Stars bowed out in the preliminaries honorably by beating the Stallions of Burkina Faso 3-0 in their last group match.
Kenya had lost the first two matches to Mali and Senegal by the same margin but nonetheless produced an overall great performance that belied its lowly placing then in the Fifa rankings.
This was the reason why Mulee, who was given a free hand by Football Kenya Federation (FKF) to name his deputy during his unveiling, settled on Muhiddin as Stars seeks for qualification to Afcon, having last featured in the 2019 edition under Frenchman Sebastien Migne assisted by Francis Kimanzi.
Muhiddin, who is making a comeback to Stars after quitting as Head coach following Kenya’s loss to Guinea Bissau in the 2012 AFCON qualifiers, is desirous at re-uniting with Mulee and is confident Stars can make it to the 2022 Afcon finals with proper planning.
Said Muhiddin: “I have worked with him (Mulee) before and knows what he can do.
He interacts well with players, which is extremely important and especially for the upcoming crucial games. Yes, qualification is possible,”
Muhiddin is vouching for Stars to collect at least eight or nine points out of a maximum twelve in their remaining four games to make it to Afcon.
“If we can reap these points, I think we will be home and dry. It’s up the players to keep on believing in themselves,’’
However, Muhiddin is calling for extreme caution by Stars in the qualifying group stage when they face Comoros who are giant-killers.
“Comoros beat Togo 1-0 and drew 0-0 against Egypt and that tells you they are a quality side. We should strive to burn the midnight oil to beat them,’’ said Muhiddin.
