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Tag: Harambee Stars

  • 2014 World Cup qualifiers: Kenya vs Nigeria gets 2pm kick-off

    2014 World Cup qualifiers: Kenya vs Nigeria gets 2pm kick-off

    •Eagles hit Nairobi Tuesday

    The second leg 2014 World Cup qualifier between the Harambee Stars of Kenya and the Super Eagles of Nigeria will kick off 4pm local time, which is 2pm Nigerian time on Wednesday June 5, 2013.

    The game will be played at the Kasarani stadium in Nairobi.

    Kenya drew 1-1 with Nigeria in the first leg played at the U.J. Esuene stadium in Calabar, Nigeria.

    The Eagles are expected to arrive Nairobi on Tuesday June 4, which is 24 hours before the crunch tie.

    Nigeria will also be hosted by Namibia on June 12 in another World Cup qualifier.

  • WCQ: Kenya FA needs $120,000 for Nigeria tie

    WCQ: Kenya FA needs $120,000 for Nigeria tie

    The Kenya Football Federation (KFF) said it needs $120,000 to prepare the Harambee Stars for the 2014 World Cup qualifier on June 5 against African champions Nigeria.

    KFF president Sam Nyamweya told MTNFootball.com that they are struggling financially and are calling upon all stakeholders for help.

    Nyamweya said according to their breakdown, the body needs $2,400,000 for the country’s World Cup dream to become a reality. “Most of this money will go in preparing the team and also having top friendly games,” Nyamweya explained.

    The KFF President said they are optimistic many private companies will come in to help because this campaign means a lot to Kenya.

    “We are sending the team to the 2013 COSAFA tournament in Zambia, hosting Ghana in a friendly game on June 1 and also hosting the CESAFA Senior Challenge Cup later this year and all this needs money,” Nyamweya said.

    The money is also expected to cover travel and camping logistics, including players and officials allowances plus accommodation for visiting teams.

    The Kenyans are currently bottom of Group F in the World Cup qualifier on two points behind third placed Namibia on three points while Malawi and Nigeria are tied on five points in second and first respectively.

    But victory against Nigeria next month could place Kenya back in contention for a place in the next round of the qualifiers.

     

  • Moses submits: Clap for Harambee Stars

    Moses submits: Clap for Harambee Stars

    Chelsea of England forward, Victor Moses is impressed with the quality of the Kenya national team, the Harambee following Saturday’s 1-1 draw in a FIFA World Cup qualifier in Calabar.

    The Harambee Stars looked on course to record a famous 1-0 win against the reigning African champions but were denied at the death by a stunning strike by substitute, Nnamdi Oduamadi which saw both sides settle for a share of the spoils.

    Moses reckons the draw was just about the right result and has now offered words of praise for Saturday’s opponents.

    “They (Harambee Stars) were good to be honest. It was a good game,” Moses exclusively told supersport.com shortly after the game.

    The 22-year-old then took the time to look ahead to the return fixture in Kenya, in June.

    “It’s not going to be an easy game but we’ve got quality players. It’s not going to be an easy game but we are all looking forward to the game,” he said.

    On his second half substitution, Moses chose to look at the incident from a philosophical perspective.

    “Any player (in the squad) can play at any time so I am not angry at that. Besides, I understand what the Manager was trying to do so I am calm about that,” he explained.

    Moses made his Nigeria debut in 2012 and has scored 4 goals in 12 appearances for his country.

  • WCQ: Nigeria has no advantage – Keshi

    WCQ: Nigeria has no advantage – Keshi

    Super Eagles head coach, Stephen Keshi, does not believe the late arrival of the Harambee Stars to Calabar will give his charges any notable advantage when the two sides clash in Saturday’s 2014 FIFA world cup qualifier.

    Logistic difficulties meant the Harambee Stars only arrived in Calabar, venue for the game, around 1pm on Thursday but Keshi expects the visitors to be up for the challenge on Saturday.

    “I don’t think this gives us any added advantage. They Kenyans came in on Thursday afternoon. They have Friday to train and have a feel of the stadium so I don’t think we have an advantage in that regard,” Keshi told Supersport.com.

    Keshi also revealed that the toga of African champions will not hamper his side on Saturday.

    “Pressure is always there whether you win the AFCON title or the world cup, pressure is always there but I am sure we can handle it,” he explained.

    Saturday’s game at the UJ Esuene stadium kicks off at 4pm.

  • Harambee Stars arrive, up against a mountain

    Harambee Stars arrive, up against a mountain

    Kenya’s ambitious Harambee Stars flew into Lagos on Wednesday afternoon hoping they would not be too much of a mincemeat for African champions Nigeria in Saturday’s 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying match in Calabar.

    A delegation of 20 players and 11 officials slept over in Lagos before flying into Calabar today, to be accommodated at ChannelView Hotel.

    The supercharged Nigerians, with a full house training in Canaan City for the showdown, believe they have all going for them as they file out against a side that had never beaten them previously.

    Nigeria and Kenya have clashed at senior level 13 times previously, with Nigeria coming out tops in 11 of them, the remaining two drawn.

    Their first-ever meeting was on May 8, 1968 when the Nigerians, on the way from an Olympic Games qualifying match in Ethiopia, stopped by in Nairobi for a friendly and inflicted a 2-1 defeat on their hosts.

    Another friendly in Nairobi eight years later ended 1-1, but in August 1981, Nigeria won yet another friendly in Nairobi 3-1 with goals from Henry Nwosu, Ifeanyi Onyedika and Emmanuel Osigwe.

    Fatai Amoo and Rashidi Yekini (of blessed memory) scored in a 3-0 defeat of the Harambee Stars in a World Cup qualifier in Nairobi in April, 1985 with the Eagles completing the rout 3-1 in Lagos two weeks later.

    The last two meetings between the teams came in 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying series in 2009, Nigeria winning 3-0 in Abuja (with goals by Ikechukwu Uche and Obinna Nsofor) and then nicking the return 3-2 in Nairobi on the last day of the series, to earn a ticket to South Africa.

    The African champions have a number of haymakers in their fold, with returnee Obafemi Martins in ferocious mood for Saturday’s tie. Left out of the squad to the Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa, and therefore with a point to prove, the much-traveled marksman never needs an excuse to go goals-wire.

    Harambee Stars will remember Martins with pain in their hearts as he pumped in two of those goals in Nairobi in November 2009. Given to brace accomplishments in World Cup qualifiers, Martins also hit double in 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Algeria in Oran and Zimbabwe in Abuja, and even in his first competitive match for Nigeria – a 2-0 defeat of Rwanda in Abuja in June 2004.

    There are also Cup of Nations’ hero Sunday Mba, the pacy Ahmed Musa and Ukraine-based newcomer Michael Babatunde with so much to prove.

    The elegant Victor Moses, who shocked Africa with the way he easily adjusted to the African game in his very first tournament, in South Africa, will once more be cynosure of all eyes at the U.J.Esuene Stadium, where he scored a brace against Liberia’s Lone Star in a Cup of Nations qualifier in November last year.

    Hard-as-nails enforcer Fegor Ogude and the unflappable John Mikel Obi are set to compound the situation for the Harambee Stars on Saturday evening.