Harambee Stars interim coach Francis Kimanzi - Photo Courtesy FKF Media.
Harambee Stars interim coach Francis Kimanzi has remained confident that he has a squad ready to participate and win the Mapinduzi Cup in Zanzibar.
Kimanzi named a travelling squad of 24 players for the invitational tournament set to kick off on January 3, 2025, in Pemba Island. The team, which has been in a residential training camp in preparation for the tournament, is scheduled to travel to Pemba on January 2, 2025.
“The players have returned healthy and fit (from Christmas and New Year celebrations) and it is also good that they are back and the recovering training had some good progress of the development we had left behind, they look fresh, they look ready and they look fitter,” Kimanzi told Pan-Africa Football.
“We want to build the character of the team, it is always important that we improve on the character but I feel the players can fight for us, they have showed me that they can fight and that is what we want to have and keep building on.”
Kimanzi further revealed his squad selection had given him the base required as they use Mapinduzi Cup to prepare for the 2024 Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) tournament to be co-hosted by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
“We had a large squad initially because we wanted to analyse and give all a chance to show what they can do. All the 40 that were in camp from the onset are really quality players but we needed just 24 for Mapinduzi Cup. We now have a base that we will build on ahead of CHAN,” explained Kimanzi.
Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Vice-President Macdonald Mariga explained why they had opted to play in the Mapinduzi Cup.
“We have experienced coaches, and they have been here for a long time and understand what kind of job we want them to do, and what we want from the Mapinduzi Cup is the platform to prepare us on how to tackle 2024 CHAN,” Mariga told Pan-Africa Football.
“Mapindizi will be a platform to show if they are ready, and if the team is ready to play in the CHAN tournament, we are still building the team but I want to tell Kenyans we want to involve ex-players to try and have a big number of scouts in the country so that we can have players who are fit and who can perform, we have to add ex-players to help the coaches get scout and nurture players.”
Full Squad List;
Goalkeepers; Byrne Odhiambo, Faruk Shikalo, Sepstanious Wekesa.
Defenders; Sylvester Owino, Hanif Wesonga, Alphonce Omija, Brian Okoth, Abud Omar, Siraj Mohammed, Ronney Onyango, Daniel Sakari.
Midfielders; Michael Mutinda, Chrispine Erambo, Brian Musa, Kelly Madada, Austine Odhiambo, Kenneth Muguna, Ben Stanley Omondi, Mohammed Bajaber, Boniface Muchiri, Darius Msagha, James Kinyanjui.
Forwards: Moses Shumah, and Ryan Ogam.
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