Kenya national team, Harambee Stars, have arrived in Morocco ahead of their crunch Group 'E' World Cup qualifier against Mali's Les Aigles at the Grande Stade d'Agadir on Thursday night.
As they took the flight, head coach Engin Firat pledged to claim the Malian scalp and dared his charges to go at their opponents' hammer and tongs.
The Malians place better in the latest Fifa rankings but Firat is not quacking in his boots. The Turkish gaffer has thrown down the gauntlet to his charges to prove their worth in the squad by making the nation proud.
"We may be having an inferior quality to Mali but with good teamwork, we can definitely register some impressive results," said Firat during a past training session.
"I'm not going to Mali to lose. I'm going there to get good results. I believe we can be able to get a quality outcome if we are tactically disciplined."
Firat is expected to blend youth with experience and it won't be surprising to see a couple of new and youthful gems being paraded.
In fact, Firat was emphatic that age won't influence his decision when he finally gets down to name his lineup.
"It's all about quality and talent. If somebody has quality and talent, they will always find their way into the national team. I don't actually care how old one is. He can be 17, he can be 35. If a player has the quality, it really doesn't matter what team he is playing for or how old he is," said Firat.
Razor-sharp striker Michael Olunga is expected to lead inroads in the opponent's final third. Firat is spoilt for choice with last season's Kenyan Premier League Most Valuable Player Erick Kapaito and the Young Player of the Season Henry Meja also available for duty.
The rich backline may, however, pose him some headache with veteran fullback David 'Calabar' Owino, Genk's Joseph Okumu, 2020 CAF Champions League's defender of the year Joash Onyango and 2020 KPL defender of the year Eugene Asike of Tusker, all jostling for slots in the four-man defence.
His options in the midfield are not limited either. Teenage sensation Richard Odada is expected to marshal the midfield alongside Azam's Kenneth Muguna and last season's KPL midfielder of the year Lawrence Juma. Zesco United's Ian Otieno is likely to man the woodwork.
Kenya are currently second on the log with two points after sharing spoils with Uganda and Rwanda and a win will fire them to the apex of the table.
