Former Sofapaka and KCB defender completes move to brewers, confident of helping side win local league title
By Charles.Thuku, February 22, 2023Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Premier League defending champions Tusker can now dare dream of forming a fortified defense line for the rest of the 2022/2023 season following the acquisition of journeyman Micheal Kibwage.
Kibwage, an alumnus of Mukumu Boys High School in Kakamega, is considered one of the best center backs in East Africa with his composure on the ball and leadership skills unrivaled.
The 25-year-old who has had stints with AFC Leopards and Sofapaka and KCB is a strong reader of the game and regularly uses his understanding to intercept passes from opposition strikers.
Kibwage is also comfortable in bringing the ball out from the back, progressing his side’s possession towards the opponents’ territory and maintaining composure on the ball in frenetic situations
Further, after losing possession of the ball in his roving moves, his recovery runs regularly allows him to retreat back to the defense to deny opposing strikers a sniff at goal.
Kibwage, who has been a free agent since parting ways with KCB, believes joining Tusker is his turning point but nonetheless points out that he is ready for the challenge in the starting list.
Tusker’s center back position is congested as it has the likes of Charles Momanyi, Tom Teka and Collins Kirenge, but the challenge for a starting slot does not worry Kibwage an inch.
“To me, challenging a starting lineup is healthy and I will take it head-on. We hope to have a good balance in attack and defense moving forward,” said Kibwage.
Asked what he thinks are Tusker’s chances of defending the league title, Kibwage said: “Don’t rule the team out just because it is increasingly falling in the pecking order. It’s capable of retaining the title for good measure.”
Kibwage’s defence qualities apparently explain why he was summoned to Harambee Squad in 2018 by the then Head Coach Sebastien Migne ahead of a friendly match against Swaziland (now Eswatini) at Machakos Stadium which saw Kenya lose 1-0 to the Southern African country.
Other defenders who were in the squad included Jockins Atudo, Musa Mohamed, Harun Shakava, Joash Onyango, Bolton Omwenga, Philemon Otieno and Eric “Marcelo” Ouma.
And by all accounts, Migne seemed to have discovered the mojo in Kibwage as he gave him his first international debut against the gritty Swaziland (Sihlangu Semnikati) before replacing him with relatively experienced Musa Mohammed in the second half.
Before the change, Kibwage had led from the front in neutralizing the deadly Swazi attacking line weaved around Tony Tsabedze, Njabulo Ndlovu and Felix Bendenhorst who had been a menace to Stars from the onset of the match.
Kibwage reminisced about the match, saying: ”I was on cloud nine when the coach announced the starting line-up. Many people expected me to have stage fright but I did not. Those opponents’ strikers were a menace but I tried to give my all and this gave me the confidence to work hard to face tougher goal-poachers.”