The national deaf men's football team head coach Ben Bella Omukuba says his team will go for nothing short of victory in their next Group A match against Mali on Wednesday.
The hosts lost 3-1 to Senegal in their Deaflympics qualifier opener on Saturday at Moi Stadium, Kasarani, having taken the lead in the 23rd minute through Bashir Yahye.
He conceded his charges were outplayed by the West Africans and that they withered away— after a bright start — as the game wore on.
"We are determined to recover the lost ground due to our loss against Senegal. The Senegal game was good. Our opponents were more experienced and physically superior," Omukuba said.
The tactician also lamented that the team had fewer weeks to train than their opponents and lacked enough time to gel before the qualifiers.
"They have played for long and savoured great cohesion in play. We have been in camp for only three weeks," he said.
Their female counterparts will be hoping for better fortunes when they come up against Ghana and Zanzibar who are the only other teams in the ladies' category.
Head coach Martha Mumbua exuded confidence their training will pay dividends by securing them a ticket to Caxias do Sul, Brazil for next year's 24th edition of the Deaflympics.
"The going has been good so far. We are now eager to see what our opponents have to offer. We are in the same pool as Ghana and Zanzibar, so we are determined to see this Cup remain home,” Mumbua said.
Elsewhere, Mohamed Elmallahy bagged a hat-trick as Egypt thrashed Somaliland 10-1 in a Group B encounter on Sunday at Moi Stadium, Kasarani.
Elmallahy scored in the 24th, 40th and 80th minutes as Mohamoud Abdelrehim and Ibrahim Abdelsalam each notched a brace.
Other scorers for the Pharaohs were Gamal Elsayed (57th), Hassan Abdelkader (84th) and Masoud Elmasry (92nd) as Abdiqani Ahmed pulled a 65th minute consolation for the Horn of Africa nation.
"We created several chances and converted them. Our opponents also had their fair share of chances which they failed to convert. But all in all, it’s still early days as we have very tough teams to worry about. The essence for now is to go past the group stage, so I’m totally chuffed for a good start," Egyptian coach Ahmed Elnagar said.
