The Standard: “Tusker out to reclaim title”

August 2, 2008

Regional club champions, Tusker FC, announced they would now shift focus on the local league.

The brewers announced this upon arrival from Dar es Salaam on Tuesday night.

Tusker, who won the Kenya Premier League (KPL) last season, are placed sixth, but coach Jacob ‘Ghost’ Mulee believes he has what it takes to reclaim the top spot and clinch the KPL title.

“We have missed a number of matches while we were away for the East and Central Africa Club Championships. We are now shifting our focus to the local league.

“Mathare United have only been warming the seat. I believe we are going to reclaim the top spot in a few weeks,” said Mulee.

Tusker have 21 points from 13 matches behind leaders Mathare United, Sony Sugar, World Hope, Sher Karuturi and KCB. The brewers will take on Naivasha-based Sher Karuturi in their next fixture on Saturday.

“Having been crowned the regional champions, we expect stiff challenge from our opponents. We are ready for the challenges ahead and I am sure our first match against Sher on Saturday will be tricky since the players are fatigued. We expect to dominate the rest of our fixtures,” said Mulee. Mulee added he had discovered a winning team and lauded his new signings for fitting well in the team to steer them to victory in the regional event after seven years.

Tusker signed international midfielder Osborne Monday from Oman’s Al Shabaab, Oscar Kadenge from Uganda’s SC Villa, Bonface Otieno from Rwanda’s APR and Kenneth Wendo from Mathare Youth, all who played a major role at the Championships.

“I have a young team with an average age of 23. We have discovered a winning formula and we are now not going to look back,” added Mulee.

Meanwhile, Tanzania champions, Yanga, have shown interest in signing Tusker’s defender, Joseph Shikokoti. According to the club’s secretary, Lucas Kisasa, they are offering Tsh 50 million (Sh2.9m) for the Kenyan international. When contacted for comment, Shikokoti said the club had not contacted him.

“We had scouts during the regional tournament and one of the impressive players spotted is Joseph Shikokoti. Since we are preparing for the CAF Champions League, we will need quality players in the team,” said Kisasa.

By James Waindi

Source: http://www.eastandard.net/sports/InsidePage.php?id=1143991264&cid=38&