•Odhiambo admits that for Kenya to advance to the second round of the showpiece, the players should shun personal interests of impressing scouts
•The former Thika United man says Stars have a chance to upset Senegal and Algeria through their collective efforts as players.
Image: OLIVER MORGAN
The privilege of playing at the televised Africa Cup of Nations set to begin next month in Egypt will present players with the opportunity to showcase their talents globally.
Additionally, this being a continental event, scouts and club representatives are expected to throng Egypt with an aim of tapping outstanding players to their respective clubs and this will inject more vigour to players searching for greener pastures.
However, Sofapaka and Harambee Stars holding midfielder has a divergent view as he has urged his teammates to embrace teamwork at the tournament rather than marketing individual brilliance.
The versatile midfielder Dennis Odhiambo admits that for Kenya to advance to the second round of the showpiece, the players should shun personal interests of impressing scouts and instead pool their energies and skill to achieve positive results.
Odhiambo’s international career was presumably over until Sebastien Migne took over the head coach roles, recalling him to the squad.
The former Thika United man says Stars have a chance to upset Senegal and Algeria through their collective efforts as players.
Odhiambo asserts that their purpose in Egypt will be representing the country and the players should sweat to achieve it. Kenya will be making their return to the tournament after 15 years in the cold.
“I know this is an opportunity for players to market themselves but I want to caution my fellow teammates against harbouring vested interests when the coach gives them playing time. We will be doing it solely for the country and have to do it as a unit which has one collective goal. It is through playing like a team that individual performance will be noted and will be rewarded accordingly. The only way we can upset the teams we are pitted against in our group is through teamwork. We did it in the qualifiers and it is possible in Egypt.”
His experience and Migne’s faith in him is expected to give him automatic starting roles but Odhiambo feels his place in the team is under threat, thanks to the growing competition in the team.
Migne has bestowed his faith with Odhiambo in the past matches, where he has paired him with skipper Victor Wanyama or Ismael Gonzalez but the midfield dynamo has reservations on his name being in the starting team. He has, however, vowed to fight to keep his place in the first eleven despite competing with Europe based players.
“My preferred position in the midfield has attracted competition and I can’t rest on the laurels just because I started in the qualifiers. Every player wants playing time in the national team and I have to work hard to have my name retained in the first team. Making it as a local-based player is not easy and I want to keep on working hard and improving each day to be in the team. The rest of the players are also not assured of being in the starting team due to the scramble for playing time and every player has to give his best.”