Engin Firat will be taking charge of his first match as the Harambee Stars head coach on Thursday when Kenya plays Mali in their third qualifying match of the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup in Agadir, Morocco.
Firat was appointed on a two-month contract by the Football Kenya Federation after the departure of Jacob ‘Ghost’ Mulee who was in charge of the first two games against Rwanda and Uganda.
The Turkish coach will be out to endear himself to the Kenyan fans and a win in Morocco against a star-studded Mali will be a good start for him.
“I am not going there to lose. I am going there to have a result. Maybe we have less quality than Mali but on the field we have to show that we are a better team. The main thing is that we show character and desire and fight till the last second,”
“We need to have a good tactical strategy and everyone has to give their all to execute this so that we get a result,” said the tactician.
Back to back draws against neighbours Rwanda and Uganda have left Kenya at second spit but victories against Mali in the back to back ties will put Kenya’s campaign back on track. They play the first leg in Morocco on Thursday before the return leg on Sunday in Nairobi.
Firat says he is optimistic that despite having only few days of training with the team, he can entrench his philosophy and make them ready to take on the Malians.
The coach has trained with the local based players for a week while he will only have two sessions with the full squad in Morocco, most of the foreign based players having linked up with the team directly in Agadir.
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The tactician says that the short period he has had with the team is the reason he chose to have more experienced players back in the team. Among those he recalled into the squad include midfielder Athuman Gonzalez who plies his trade in the Spanish Segunda B as well as defenders David Owino (Nkana, Zambia) and Abud Omar (AE Larisa, Greece).
“I have a balance of youth and experience in the team because I have to think of the future and also the present. For this match, we need players with experience because we need a result. That is the reason I decided to call in players who have been here before and who know how to play these kinds of matches,” the coach added.
The coach also notes; “The boys are motivated and they have shown they want it and this is the most important thing. We need to show that desire and the urge to get a win,” he added.
Meanwhile, defender Joseph Okumu says the team is ready to give their all against Mali and earn a result that will put their World Cup campaign going.
“I believe everything is possible in football. They might be stronger than us but in the field its 11 vs 11 and we bring our own qualities. We will be able to compete. We will not focus more on them but rather us and the qualities we have as a team,” the Belgium-based defender says.
