Harambee Stars head coach Engin Firat has emphasised the importance of developing an effective recruitment program to maintain a steady supply of top-level players.
Firat said there is a need to have a talent-laden repository that the country can readily access on short notice.
“We have a long-term program where we shall be focusing on discovering and fostering individuals to assure a steady supply of players for the national squad,” Firat remarked.
“Going to the future, I’ll be focusing on other categories of players. I have to consider both the World Cup and the Afcon qualifying rounds.”
The Turkish gaffer said he would continue to blend youth and experience, saying it was vital to give budding stars a chance to showcase their potential.
“Right now, we have players in camp who are at the top of their game and can help the national team succeed,” he said.
“At the same time, we have a large number of boys under the age of 23. We will have the Cecafa competition at the end of the year, where I feel they will gain the much-needed international exposure and experience, allowing us to make them ready to play whenever we need them in the future.”
He gave reference to former Nairobi City Stars mercurial forward Timothy “Babu” Ouma who has since joined Swedish topflight behemoths IF Elfsborg.
“You understand that I left Timothy off this squad even though I was the one to give him his first call-up to the national team. This is because I want to give him enough time to adjust to Swedish football completely so that he may later use his knowledge to benefit the national team,” he opined.
“We are keeping a careful eye on the advancement of many more athletes like him to help them reach the heights where they can aid the national team.”
He said he will use the four-team invitational tournament in Mauritius to gauge the mettle of his fresh recruits on the international stage.
“A tournament like this gives me a chance to study the players closely and see if they can perform under pressure since this is a different ball game,” he said. “They may be shining locally in the league but we also need to see how well they can perform on the big stage, which comes with a lot of stress and pressure.”
Harambee Stars will jet out to the Indian Ocean island on Monday after a shortage of flights denied them an opportunity to travel on Saturday as previously scheduled.
