Harambee Stars line up Uganda and Libya friendly matches
By Amos Abuga, August 21, 2019
Francis Kimanzi’s third tenure as Harambee Stars coach will commence with friendly matches against Uganda and Libya as revealed by Football Kenya Federation (FKF) boss Nick Mwendwa during the official unveiling of the new national team technical bench yesterday.
Unlike in previous friendly matches against Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Madagascar in France which were organised by One Goal Agency’s CEO Joe Kamga, FKF will organise the two matches first on September 8 in Nairobi against Uganda and October 11 with Libya to be played either in Tunisia or Morocco.
This comes amid suspicion that Kamga and his One Goal agency could have inflated prices and made a kill for spearheading Harambee Stars three week residential camp in France as well as the two friendly matches against Madagascar and DRC which was played in Spain.
“Joe is an established agent for FKF, he actually catered for the two friendly matches before Afcon. But this time it will be different going into the matches we are planning since we are ones who have requested for them,” said Mwendwa.
For Kimanzi who was in charge of the national team between May 2008 and January 2009 and later between November 2011 and June 2012, it will be time for him to gel past glory and current experience.
“If we had the knowledge we have now back then, we could have achieved a lot. Nonetheless, we have a chance to take the country in the right path,” remarked Kimanzi who takes over from sacked Frenchman Sebastian Migne. For Kimanzi and team, the two friendly matches will be used to measure Kenya’s preparedness before facing Egypt in the 2021 African Cup of Nations Group G qualifiers in November.
“We want to make an immediate return to Afcon, that is why we shall be active during the FIFA weeks and with proper support, yes we can,” Kimanzi said.
He added: “We intend to be as honest as possible with team selections, we might not satisfy everyone, but we shall strive to select the best.”
Mwendwa said he was the pioneer of advocating for local coaches while assuring Kimanzi and his assistant Zedekiah ‘Zico’ Otieno of full support.
“We have shared their contract with the Sports Ministry but would not disclose details,” Mwendwa said.