Harambee Stars coach Sebastien Migne will be wary of the defensive nature of Tanzania’s Taifa Stars when the two teams battle in the return leg of a 2020 Africa Nations Championships qualifier second leg match leg at Moi Stadium, Kasarani.
The first leg of the opening round played last week at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam ended in a barren draw prompting the Tanzanian coach Etienne Ndairagije to summon two defenders and a goalkeeper for the return match, where a scoring draw will be enough to send Tanzania to the second round.
Ndairagije called Haruna Shamte of Lipuli FC and Azam’s Oscar Masai to beef up his defence while Mohammed Ally, who also features for Lipuli, was picked to fill in the void left by first-choice goalkeeper Aishi Manula, who suffered an injury in training.
Manula, who missed the first leg while on a South African tour with Simba was recalled back to the team but picked a knock in training. Kenya, who will be looking to capitalise on home advantage are a win away from playing Sudan in the final round.
Throughout the week, talks of pulling Stars out of the match dominated news forums as Football Kenya Federation said they did not have funds to host the match.
Yesterday, the acting Chief Executive Officer Barry Otieno said the government was yet to wire the Sh19m budget they requested but remained confident the match will go as planned.
Meanwhile, Migne who called up Tusker winger Boniface Muchiri and Kakamega Homeboyz striker Kelvin Omondi to bolster his misfiring striking front will heavily rely on the duo, who impressed in the Kenyan Premier League season to break the Tanzanian defence.
The Frenchman, who guided Kenya back to the Africa Cup of Nations after 15 years in the cold will be keen to reap a positive result in the match and rub off the memories of a poor outing in Egypt where a 3-2 win against their weekend opponents was not enough to get the team past the group stages.
With FKF setting a flat rate of Sh100 as the entrance fee, Migne will seek to give the fans something to smile about as well as prove his critics wrong. Ugandan referee Brian Nsubuga Miiro will man the match and will be assisted by compatriots Ronald Katenya and Lee Okello while Alex Muhabi will be the fourth official.
Should the match end in a goalless draw, the winner will be decided on post-match penalties.
