FKF vice president McDonald Mariga has shared how he feels Harambee Stars can ensure they qualify from their tough CHAN 2024 group that has Morocco, Angola, DRC and Zambia.
Football Kenya Federation vice president McDonald Mariga feels the postponement of the 2024 African Nations Championships (CHAN 2024) is a blessing for Kenya after landing in a tough group.
Harambee Stars were pooled in Group A alongside Morocco and DR Congo, both who have won the tournament twice, 2011 runners-ups Angola as well as Zambia.
Kenya are seen as the underdog in the group but Mariga is looking at the glass half-full as he feels Harambee Stars can draw inspiration from their past results against those teams and pull off surprises with proper preparations.
ai = d.createElement(‘script’);
ai.defer = true;
ai.async = true;
ai.src = v.location.protocol + o;
d.head.appendChild(ai);
})(window, document, ‘//a.vdo.ai/core/v-pulsesports-co-ke-v0/vdo.ai.js’);
“It is a group of death because there are big teams in Pool A and we have a big chance because we have done well in the past with Morocco and Angola so I think we are good,” said Mariga.
Kenya will be hosting the 2024 African Nations Championship, marking a historic first for Harambee Stars in the finals.
“We just need to prepare well from now, the tournament has been moved to August so we have time to prepare our team very well and when the day comes, our players will be ready.”
The delayed tournament was set to kick off on February 1 in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania but has now been moved to August and Mariga feels it is an opportunity for Kenya to utilise the extension by preparing a strong team for the tournament.
“Postponement gives us time to prepare and for our coach to know players so it is an advantage for us,” he added.
“We are looking at a good team from our Premier League and NSL. The best players to play for our national team.”
)
Kenya’s Harambee Stars have landed a very tricky group in the upcoming 2024 African Nations Championship (CHAN) set to take place in August this year
Harambee Stars hope to have a new coach by then, with Mariga leading the process of finding Engin Firat’s successor, and even with former South Africa striker Benni McCarthy heavily linked with the job, the former Inter Milan midfielder is keeping his cards close to his chest.
“I cannot talk more about the coach but at the moment, we have to work with [Francis] Kimanzi. He is our coach for now and in the interim.”
