After signing a two-year long contract with Kenyan champions Gor Mahia, former Sony Sugar coach Patrick Odhiambo is keen to lay his hands on his first major trophy when the club seeks to clinch the Cecafa Kagame Cup next month.
Odhiambo was appointed as Gor’s assistant coach to replace Zedekiah “Zico” Otieno and the soft-spoken tactician is angling at aiding his new side to claim the regional title which will run between July 6-21 in Kigali, Rwanda.
The former Chemelil Sugar had a stellar season with his former side where they finished fifth in the past season—a run which attracted Gor management, who in turn sought his services to replace Zico.
“It is the ambition of each coach to win a trophy and I am looking forward to quenching my thirst when we play in the Kagame Cup. I have tried hard with my past teams and I believe the time is ripe for me to win trophies. It feels good to join a club of Gor Calibre and I hope I will settle and achieve the set objectives.”
Gor resumed training on Tuesday in readiness for the tournament where they are placed in D alongside DC Motema Pembe of DR Congo, AS Ports of Djibouti and KMKM of Zanzibar. Odhiambo is looking forward to a good working relationship with his boss Hassan Oktay, who jetted back to the country over the weekend to launch their preseason.
“The team resumed training on Tuesday and I am happy we began as a unit. Even though I am still new in the team, I believe I will have fully acquainted myself with their philosophies and work together with my boss Oktay.”
K’Ogalo, who were tossed out of the tournament last season by Rayon Sports of Rwanda will begin their bid to win against the Congolese side on July 8th at the Umuganda Stadium before facing AS Ports at the same venue two days later. Gor will wrap up their group stage matches on July 14 against KMKM.
Meanwhile, another Kenyan representative in the tournament Bandari continued with their preparations in South Africa, where they played Cape Town City to a two-all draw in a friendly fixture.
Bandari are in Pool ‘B’ with Uganda’s KCCA, Mukura and Azam of Rwanda and Tanzania respectively. The dockers will play KCCA in the opener at the Huye Stadium on July 7th before playing Mukura and Azam on July 9th and 14 respectively at the same venue.
