We aim to make Kenyans happy – Firat
Harambee Stars head coach Engin Firat says his technical bench and the players are working extra hard to bring joy to the country despite a myriad of challenges facing the team.
In a press conference yesterday, Firat said that the team is well focused on big 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers against Burundi and Ivory Coast with both matches being staged in Malawi for lack of approved football infrastructure in the country.
The Turkish manager who is taking charge of Harambee Stars for a second time in the World qualifiers says the team is facing many challenges but they cannot sit and cry about them but rather work hard with what is available to make the country happy in terms of performance on the pitch.
“The boys are making a lot of sacrifices. The last one year has been very difficult for us with so many problems and you will never see me or the play-ers talk about these. This makes us united because we are a family all through the sacrifices of the players including me,” Firat said.
Harambee Stars, which is in a residential camp for the third day today, is preparing for crunch ties against Burundi and reigning African champions Ivory Coast on June 8 and 11 respectively.
The two games will be staged at the Bingu Stadium in Lilongwe Malawi,a venue where Stars emerged clinched the Four Nations Cup last April after trouncing Zimbabwe in the final.
Coach Firat further defended Football Kenya Federation’s decision to take the games in Malawi and not Tanzania.
“We have been in this situation for the last one and half years now. Why have you not asked this question because we have been playing on away soil all through? It is a problem that has been there for nearly 50 years. We need to ask this question. For sure, it is difficult to play away all the time and succeed. Tanzania is hosting other teams and have their home games there and therefore we could not go there and expel them. Further, Burundi has been playing their home matches in Tanzania and they have built a substantive fan base there. It was not logical to take the game there in Tanza-nia. It was a different situation with Uganda. They got approval of their stadium late and I know that FKF tried its best to see us play in Kampala but since this competition does not involve CAF alone there was need for approval from FIFA and because of time constraints it was not possible despite the willingness of Uganda to host us.”
Harambee Stars could still have Reims defender Joseph Okumu and Poland based left-back Eric Ouma Mercelo despite early worries that the duo could sit out entirely through injuries.
Firat noted that he is looking at the situation of the two dependable players but revealed that St Mirren’s forward Johna Ayunga who made Harambee Stars debut two months ago will not be available after suffering a knee injury.
Bruce Kamau (Perth Glory), John Avire (Misr El Makasa), Adam Wilson (Bradford City) are among the first lot of foreign based players who have re-ported to camp in Nairobi.
