The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Amrouche

  • Amrouche drops three

    Harambee Stars are travelling to Naivasha for a three-day training camp as they prepare to play against Nigeria on June 5th at the Moi Sports Centre Kasarani. Coach Adel Amrouche has dropped three players from the team as he seeks to fine tune his best team to tackle the Super Eagles at Kasrani, a venue the Eagles beat Stars 3-2 in the last encounter between them.

    KCB forward Jacob Kelli, Azam’s Humphrey Mieno and Sofapaka’s Eugene Asike have all been dropped from the team.

    “Kelli is a little bit out of form and so we decided to rest him but we will have him after the Nigeria match. Mieno is injured and so we had to give him a rest while I picked Atudo over Asike because I was impressed more with his abilities,” Coach Adel Amrouche told Michezoafrika.com.

    The Coach says he will use the three-day serene training camp in Naivasha to sharpen the team’s claws as he seeks to upset Nigeria in Nairobi.

    “Of course we are a little disadvantaged because we have so many injuries to our key players as well as Origi and Oliech missing. We are determined however to be the best of the day and we hope to use this camp to get the best out of ourselves,” added Amrouche.

  • Amrouche blasts NFF over ‘Amodu saga’

    Amrouche blasts NFF over ‘Amodu saga’

    Kenyan Coach Amrouche is still unhappy with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF). This time he has revisited the way the Nigeria Federation handled the Amodu saga, calling it ‘unfair’.

    In the last of a five-part exclusive interview he granted to supersport.com while in Nigeria, the savvy coach called the whole affair ‘wrong and embarrassing’ to Africa and her coaches. As we know coach Amodu was first hired by the NFF in April 2001.

    It would be the start of a long, love-hate relationship ending in 2008, with the end of an unparalleled fourth spell as Nigeria coach, after taking over from Berti Vogts. It was to Amodu whom the administrators turned when the Super Eagles faced elimination from qualifying for Japan/South Korea 2002 after the sacking of Dutchman Johannes Bonfrere. His successful tinkering of the team ensured that Nigeria made the Asian World Cup party, but he was sacked after the team’s bronze-medal finish at AFCON 2002.

    Amazingly, he repeated this feat in 2009 by leading Nigeria to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Just like in 2002, the team’s third place finish led to Amodu being let go of on 6 February 2010. Despite reaching the third place with the national side in the 2010 African Cup of Nations, he was eventually demoted to serve as the coach of the Nigerian B-team (Home-Based Eagles) and Lars Lagerbäck was installed in his place.

    It is the instances pertaining to both World Cup qualifications and subsequent firings that Amrouche is referring to.

    “How can you get a team to the Promised Land and then at the last moment be denied entry? Even to Moses it happened only once. But to Amodu twice and the NFF really need to look at themselves in the mirror”.

    Coach Amrouche and the Harambee Stars returned to Kenya Monday to their elated fans still basking in the glow of earning a difficult draw in Calabar.

     

  • Kenyan coach promises Eagles ‘hell’ in Nairobi

    Kenyan coach promises Eagles ‘hell’ in Nairobi

    Kenya’s coach Adel Amrouche has broken his silence on being expelled from Saturday’s World Cup qualifying game against Nigeria as well as on his team’s amazing result.

    The Harambee Stars stretched the African Champion to their fullest, conceding a goal in stoppage time to earn a 1-1 draw.

    In the last minutes of the game coach Adel Amrouche was expelled by the Referee from Botswana on advise of the Fourth official and he is still livid saying : “My team played the last 10 minutes without me; it is tough for any team playing like that. I was asked to leave at the time they needed me most. My absence caused us a lot,” he told Suoersport.com.

    “I was talking to my players and didn’t infringe on any other person’s territory. Or is there any rule that says a coach cannot stand at the lines and talk to his players all through the game? It was a funny decision.”

    The pitch in Calabar was not marked properly and I was understandably excited coaching my first game. If I strayed onto the actual field it was not intentional nor was for more than a few seconds. In addition to this I was never warned. To make matters worse during the game, the same official came to warn me on how to give my players water, insisting they should be the ones coming out for it.”

    Amrouche thinks that his unavailability on the sideline at the end clearly cost his team the maximum points. Nevertheless he is quite happy with the score and his team’s performance telling Supersport.com that the return game in Kenya is going to be “very tough” and a “virtual hell” for Nigeria.

     

  • Adel Amrouche reshuffles squad

    Adel Amrouche reshuffles squad

    • Drops Juma, Were
    • Unleashes Omar, Opiyo

    Determined to ensure Harambee Stars live up to expectation in Calabar Saturday, Coach Adel Amrouche, who has named a 19-man squad for Saturday’s tie against the Super Eagles, has dropped two players, France based Abdallah Juma and AFC Leopard’s Paul Were.

    The two players were originally on the list but were later dropped following hamstring injuries during Monday’s training session.

    While Abdallah Juma was replaced Bandari left-back Aboud Omar Were was replaced by Peter Opiyo who plys his trade with Tusker according to michezoafrika.com

    The team which is expected to arrive in Nigeria today, was Tuesday hosted by sponsors East African Breweries at the Nairobi Hotel.