FKF beefs up Harambee Stars technical bench ahead of Mauritius tourney

Football Kenya Federation has added three new Turkish nationals into the Harambee Stars backroom staff, under head coach Engin Firat, just a few months after confirmation of his employment on a long-term basis.

Adem Koyuncu on the other hand joins the team's formation as the new physiotherapist while Tolgahan Tuglu will be the team manager, replacing Jectan Oitiang’or and Enos Karani respectively.

Citizen Digital learnt of the changes Friday morning, during Harambee Stars’ last training session of ahead of the four-nation tournament where they are set to play hosts Mauritius, Pakistan, and Djibouti.

Remarkably, the new technical bench members have been around for some time, and have been part of the training since Stars hit camp in preparation for the Mauritius fiesta.

At the same time, Firat has underlined he is out to build a large pool of players he can work with in different scenarios, before Kenya resumes competitive matches later in November this year.

Having been suspended by FIFA for over a year due to government interference, Kenya is not taking part in the ongoing African Cup of Nations qualifiers and the coach is taking advantage of the break "to build a solid team.”

“As I said earlier I don’t think for the present day only but for the future, and not also for the World Cup and AFCON qualifiers alone but to concentrate on one assignment after the other. The squad we have includes a good number of Under-23 players and my aim is that by end of July when we will play in the Cecafa tournament they will be ready if called upon for the task, with this kind of experience,” said the coach during the training at the M-Pesa Foundation Academy.

The coach hopes the goodwill the government is showing through the Ministry of Sports will accelerate their march to football glory.

“After meeting the Sports CS (Ababu Namwamba) on yesterday, he promised us that some problems in the team will be solved and that gives me big hope in future.

“I’m missing five players from our last international friendly (against Iran) match and that’s sad for me. I wish they were here so that I continue monitoring their progress. We however have other new players and I challenge them to seize the opportunity,” said the former Moldova national team coach.

Stars skipper Michael Ogada Olunga who plays for Al Duhail in Qatar said they are prepared enough for the tournament.

“It’s a very vital tournament for us because it will prepare us for World cup and Afcon qualifiers which are scheduled to kick off towards the end of the year. We have a fairly new squad and I think it’s good for the players who have been performing in the local league and yearning to represent their country at international level.

“This is a going to be a good blend; we hope to post good results in Mauritius. As the captain I feel we have the quality and the potential and now that the standoff between the FKF and the government is over, it’s a new chapter we are looking forward to. I also believe we have got what it takes to qualify to these major international competitions.”

USA based Richard Odada is equally optimistic.

“I’m very much happy seeing myself in the squad once again and my aim is to do my best with the rest in the team to pull good results. We are waiting to see the group we will be pooled in and I can say we are ready to tackle any team,” averred Odada.