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Sher Karuturi deeply misled

Sher Karuturi from Naivasha were hoping to cash in on home advantage and win their league Match last Sunday against Mathare United. But that was never to be as Mathare United beat them in their own backyard by a goal to nil. But the loss did not deter them from still chasing the 3 points off the field.

Informed sources who attended the match alerted the KISE website that Sher officials might have been misled to believe that Mathare United’s player Kennedy Ayong was suspended for that match having collected 3 yellow cards. KPL rules direct that a player who accumulates 3 yellow cards must serve a two match suspension. So Sher went ahead and lodged an official complaint with KPL demanding to be awarded the 3 points from Mathare for fielding an ineligible player. Little did they know that Ayong had already served his suspension and actually had come back and only acquired one more yellow card on resuming play.  Out of the window the points Sher wanted from Mathare went!

Speculation has been rife in the past 3 weeks among KPL Clubs that some teams have not observed the rule  in their past matches and KPL is prepared to go down to the root of the matter and punish the Clubs which flouted this rule. Most of the teams from the 8th position downwards are only separated by a difference of very few points and any points deductions at this stage would be disastrous. As relegation threats bite and the title race going to the wire, all the Clubs are anxious to find out if they are on the punishment roster. About a week ago, Red Berets tasted the wrath of the Independent Disciplinary and Appeals Committee (whose decisions are final) when they were deducted  the 3 points they had gotten against Gor Mahia. Gor appealed when they found out that a Red Berets player who had accumulated 3 yellow cards had actually been fielded in that match. This decision pushed Red Berets near the doors of relegation and any subsequent losses might result to this door being opened. The following standings show the matches played up to date, and including that IDAC decision against Red Berets. The table could change if KPL punishes more clubs for gross violation of its rules. Before the disciplinarian cracks the whip this is how things look like with only 4 rounds of matches remaining.

UPDATED KENYAN PREMIER LEAGUE STANDINGS 

	Team	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Mathare United	26	16	7	3	42	20	22	55
2	Sony Sugar	26	14	8	4	24	11	13	50
3	Agro-Chemicals	26	12	7	7	26	20	6	43
4	Thika United	26	11	6	9	21	18	3	39
5	World Hope	26	11	5	10	22	25	-3	38
6	Ulinzi Stars	26	10	7	9	28	25	3	37
7	Sher Karuturi	26	8	12	6	16	15	1	36
8	Tusker	26	8	10	8	31	30	1	34
9	Gor Mahia	26	9	7	10	15	18	-3	34
10	Chemelil Sugar	26	8	9	9	24	21	3	33
11	KCB	26	7	10	9	19	23	-4	31
12	Bandari	26	9	4	13	26	32	-6	31
13	Mahakama	26	7	6	13	23	31	-8	27
14	Western Stima	26	7	6	13	27	36	-9	27
15	Red Berets	26	6	8	12	20	27	-7	26
16	Mathare Youth	26	6	6	14	21	33	-12	24

Robert Mambo’s fighting spirit pays off

Swedish League:

Robert Mambo scored one of the most memorable goals of his career in Swedish top league to help his team, GIF Sundsvall, ease relegation fears. Sundsvall won the match 2-1 against Norrkopping.  The game was headed for a 1-1 draw but with 3 minutes to go, Robert Mambo, who is also the captain of the Kenyan National team found the back of the net to send Sundsvall home fans celebrating the whole evening.

Mambo had an outstanding game last night and the goal came as a very good reward for his never-say-die attitude. The goal was the fifth that Robert has scored for the team this season.

KISE’s special Sports correspondent had a long telephone interview with Mambo a day before the match where the Kenyan Captain expressed confidence that they would win the match and still play in the top league next season despite having  a bad run this year. Mambo admits that things have not worked for them this year but they look forward to a more promising future.

“The most important thing for the team for now is to win our remaining matches and avoid relegation. We have a team that has the ability to post good results and are working very hard”, said Mambo.

Sundsvall meets Orebro next Sunday in a match Sundsvall must win. Orebro was Mambo’s former team. Sundsvall will try to exploit its home advantage when they meet Orebro.

Mathare United’s steady march to league title continues

Saturday KPL Match Reports by KISE Correspondent:

Mathare United snatched a very important away win when they beat Sher Karuturi away by a solitary goal. The all-important goal was scored by Chrispine Oduor in the first half. The win might prove so crucial at these finals stages of the Kenyan Premier League, with only 4 rounds of matches to go. Kimanzi’s lads went back to the top of the KPL league. And who said Mathare could not stop celebrating when news reached them in the bus on their way back to Nairobi that their closest title challengers, Sony Sugar from Awendo had fallen by 4-0 away to Bandari in Mombasa. Bandari, fighting so hard not to fall into the relegation zone thoroughly outplayed Sony and deservedly got the much needed victory.

Elsewhere in Nairobi, Tusker got 3 points which they so badly needed when they beat visiting Red Berets 3-1. The defeat leaves Red Berets in a bad relegation-threatening spot. They are second from bottom. Newly installed Tusker Coach, James Nandwa who is also the assistant coach of the Kenyan National team was so upbeat after the match, expressing optimism that the team will win all its remaining 4 matches and at least end in a respectable position. Nandwa got a rude welcome during his first match in charge of Tusker when his team lost 2-0 against Agro Chemicals in Nairobi 3 weeks ago.

Mathare Youth’s woes continued despite giving their Coach Gabriel Njoroge leave of absence and assigning assistant Coach David Ouma the duty to take charge of the team in the remaining assignments. They lost 3-1 away to fast rising Ulinzi FC. Mathare Youth are still stuck at the bottom of the table and really need to sort themselves out by winning their remaining matches to stand a chance of getting  a place in the KPL league next season.

KCB lost 2-1 at home to Agro-Chemicals. Coach Yusuf Chippo’s lads woke up from their deep slumber in the final quarter of the match to salvage a goal but this did not help them as Agro decided to fall back deep into their own half and kill away the clock. The match was played at the Kasarani stadium.

Today Sunday at the Hope Center, World Hope beat visiting Chemelil Sugar 2-1.

World Cup draws are out!

The much awaited draws for the third and final rounds of the World Cup Qualifiers for African group teams are finally out. Last Wednesday FIFA made the draws in Zurich for the last 20 teams. There are 5 groups, each having 4 teams. The winner of each group joins South Africa in the World Cup in 2010 in South Africa and the African Cup of Nations in Angola. This will see 6 teams from African play in the world Cup. This will be the highest number of teams ever to represent the African Continent in the World Cup. South Africa automatically qualifies because they are hosting the tournament. The second and the third team in each group only qualify for the African Cup of Nations.

Cameroun, Nigeria, Egypt, Ivory Coast and Ghana were each seeded after topping their second round groups. The final draws are as follows:

Group A Consists of Cameroun, Togo, Morocco and Gabon

Group B Comprises Nigeria, Kenya, Tunisia and Mozambique

Group C includes Egypt, Rwanda, Algeria and Zambia

Group D is made of Ghana, Benin, Mali and Sudan.

Group E  has Ivory Coast, Malawi, Burkina Fasso and Guinea

Kenya starts its World Cup Campaign at home against Tunisia on the weekend of the 28th-29th of March 2009 while Mozambique hosts Nigeria .

The Harambee Stars then go away to Nigeria on the weekend of the 6th-7th of June while Tunisia plays hosts to Mozambique.

The weekend of the 20th-21st June will see Kenya take on Mozambique in Nairobi while Tunisia welcomes Nigeria.

The 5th-6th of September will see Nigeria welcome Tunisia while Mozambique hosts Kenya.

The 10th-11 of October will pit Nigeria against Mozambique in Nigeria while Kenya travels to Tunisia.

The 14th-15th of November will be the last weekend of the qualifiers when Kenya is expected to play host to Nigeria in Nairobi while Mozambique will be inviting Tunisia in Maputo.

Kimanzi slams foreign coaches

Kenya coach Francis Kimanzi believes that his current success adds weight to the argument that foreign coaches do not help African football.

The Harambee Stars are top of Group 2 in the 2010 World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, and are very likely to progress to the second group phase.

“The problem with African football federations is that they have a vision to bring someone from abroad, but they need an overall vision for the team,” Kimanzi told BBC Sport.

“Kenya are succeeding, and our team is dominated by local players. Look at Angola, their coach just resigned, but he took them to the World Cup.”

“Nigeria have won five games and conceded no goals with a local coach.

“And look at Egypt, they won the Nations Cup with a local coach and local players – it’s the way forward.”

Oliveira Goncalves resigned as Angola coach, but he took the team to the 2006 World Cup finals.

Kimanzi feels that the mindset of two of Kenya’s chief rivals is not helping them to achieve.

“Tanzania believe that they need someone from abroad to succeed, but in the past five years they’ve seen nothing – they’re already out of the qualifiers, it’s unbelievable,” he said.

“Uganda have also been working with foreign coaches, but they don’t get anywhere.”

However, there is a likelihood that Kenya will end up with a foreign coach, as Prime Minister Raila Odinga has said that a German coach might be hired.

Kimanzi says he is prepared for the eventuality.

“I’m still very young, if Kenya wants to hire a foreign coach tomorrow, let them do that, I’d want to compare notes with someone who comes in,” he said.

 

Wanga closer to the Girabola!

Kenya’s international striker, Allan Wanga is on the brink! Wanga plays professional football in Angola for Petro Atletico. With only 5 matches to go, Petro is a clear 6 points more than second placed Agosto.

Petro Atletico needs only 6 points from a possible 15 in their last remaining 5 matches. They play away to Kapscorp Palancas tomorrow and hope to win the match. It has been a long 7 year wait to win the trophy and they cannot afford to let this trophy slip away from their grip this time round. Last weekend Petro Atletico thumped last year’s champions Interclub 3-1 at home to really run away from the second placed Agosto. The line-up that did duty for Petro is pictured on the left, with Allan featuring prominently int the starting line-up. Petro has 48 points while Agosto has 42.

Wanga has seen the back of net 4 times with each goal proving to be very crucial during Petro’s league campaign. Allan’s predatory instincts attracted the eyes of Petro’s scouts when they came to Kenya a year ago. During that time Allan was on top shape helping Tusker win the Kenyan Premier League title. Allan has since then not looked back and is a real asset to Petro Atletico.

Wanga, we are keeping our fingers crossed and are praying for you and the Mighty Petro Atletico. Go for it!!!

Allan jets back into the country on the 6th of October to join the rest of the Kenyan National team players in Kasarani where they will be camping preparing for their last group World Cup qualifiers match against Guinea in Conakry on the 11th of October.Kenya has already qualified for the next stage of the group qualifiers but aims to top the group. A draw will be enough for them as they have a superior goal aggregate compared to the Guineans.

Kenyan premier League weekend updates

The race for the Kenyan Premier League continued having acute turns and twists as it approaches its final home stretch.

On the lower half of the table it was the story of survival for the fittest as teams posted mixed result with 8 matches to go. Former league and Nelson Mandela Cup Champions are facing great danger of relegation. They lost 1-0 away to Sony Sugar in Awendo.

Mathare United’s title hopes suffered a setback when they lost 2-0 away to Ulinzi. Both of the Ulinzi goals came in the second half of the game. Evans Ang’oka and Francis Ochieng scored a goal each to run away with 3 valuable points. The defeat saw Mathare United’s 5 point lead over second placed Sony cut to just two points after Sony posted a 1-0 win against the once Mighty Gor Mahia. Time is really running out on Gor who must start winning today if the hope to continue playing in the Premier league tomorrow. James Siang’a, the Gor Mahia tactician has had a magic touch whenever he takes over any team. But things do not seem to be working for him this time round His has been a mixture of draws and defeats.

Alive came Mathare Youth when they found their winning boots again crushing Red Berets 1-0. The loss threw Red Berets into deep trouble. They are now placed second from Bottom with 22 points. The Mathare lads climbed slightly out of the relegation zone after the result. Michael Ochieng Scored the goal that sunk the men in uniform in the 71st minute of the game. Mathare Youth is now placed 14th out 16 teams. Henry Majale the Vice Chairman of Mathare Youth FC was over the moon after the win. He did not have a chance to watch the game but said that the win would go a long way towards boosting his team’s morale. “The win has come at a very good time. We have a tough game against Tusker during this coming weekend. All I can say is that we look forward to beating the beermen.

Tusker FC, smarting from their 2-1 away win over Bandari a week ago got the going tough again last weekend when they took on Chemelil Sugar FC at the Kasarani Stadium. Too many unnecessary  and unproductive passes in the midfield coupled with a very sorry attack provided a very good recipe for defeat. They succumbed to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of well drilled Chemelil. Zedikiah Otieno seems to have mastered the art of survival and proving to be more and more untouchable. Before taking on Tusker FC, speculation was rife that he would be shown the door if he lost against Tusker FC.

Sher Karuturi travelled all the way to Western Stima but came back without kicking a ball. Before the match, there was a very heavy downpour that  rendered the pitch unplayable.

Humphrey Mieno danced his way to the changing room after sending Yusuf Chippo’s KCB home without a point when they played Mahakama FC. Mieno, who is also in the national U20 team scored the all important goal that did damage to the bankers. Leonard Saleh has shown some slight touch since arriving at Mahakama FC two months ago. Mahakama bosses now have some confidence that they can gradually crawl out of the relegation zone.

Home side Agro Chemicals took full advantage of their home crowd trouncing other title contenders Thika United 2-1. Thika had initially silenced the home side when they scored first but Agro replied swiftly with goals from Gordon Okoth and Edward Nandi.

Assistant Sports Minister closes course

Hon Kabando wa Kabando addresses participants

The Sports Assistant Minister, Mr Kabando wa Kabando was the official guest of honour during the closing ceremony of the KISE-Organised 10 day coaching course which ended yesterday at the Goan Institute. The course drew participants from different parts of the country.

In his speech to the participants, the assistant minister congratulated all the graduands for being so determined in attending the course and hoped that they will share the knowledge they had acquired with their communities when they got back to their respective areas of residence. He further informed the participants that the government was working very hard to make sure that the Sports Policy bill is passed in the floor of parliament to streamline the general running of sports in the country.

The Assistant minister was accompanied by the Kenya Football Federation Technical Director Mr Patrick Naggi. Mr Naggi on his part reiterated the importance of the coaches being affiliated to the Kenya Football Federation. He urged the trained coaches to organise coaching clinics periodically to help uplift the standards of football in the country.

The Assistant minister later on gave certificates to the coaches before officially closing the course. He later on posed for a group photo with the participants.

Physiotherapists tip coaches

Marianne Lislevand, her colleague Siri Lund from Norway and Enos Karani last Tuesday gave a 1 day sports injuries prevention session to coaches attending the KISE-organised footbal coaching course. Both Marianne and Siri are doing a masters degree programme in Sports Physiotherapy at a Norwegian University.

The intensive sessions were very well organised and included practival and theory sessions. Enos Karani is a former Mathare United goalkeeper and does fitness training to the team which trains at the Goan Institute.

Plans and discussions are at an advanced stage to include the topic on sports injuries on all KISE-Organised coaching courses. The participants who attended the course really appreciated the topic and asked that in future courses it be given more time.

Rehabilitation patterns of injured players was also discussed in depth. There exists a current situation where coaches, and even players do not know how to take good care that players careers do not get endangered by not practising sufficiently or at times over-practising.

The lectures and practicals gave by the three physios were an eye opener to the participants.

Mulama’s return helps VSK win

Titus Mulama helped his Swedish Club Vasteras SK beat Syrianska Botrkyrka 2-1 over the weekend to push. The influencial midfielder was out for 3 weeks with a groin injury which also made his miss the Harambee Stars World Cup-Cum-African Cup of Nations qualifier match against Namibia in Nairobi two weeks ago. The team captain of VSK Martin Andersson scored the first goal while Jonas Botold scored the other.

Mulama played a full 90 minutes in the game which saw him impressively tearing down the Syrianska midfield with his split passes to the strikers. Mulama only trained for 6 days before the match but showed no signs of rustiness. He was as comfortable as usual on the ball dictating the pace in the midfield throughout the game.

Mulama ‘s club plays in the first division in the Swedish league and is currently lying in the third position with 5 matches to go. A few weeks ago they were holding strongly to the second position but slumped to third after losing 3 consecutive matches. On the 21st of September they play Bodens BK after which they play Syrianska on the 27th. They will then take on Ersboda on the 5th of October and Umea on the 12th. They finish off with Sylvia on the 19th.

There is no other way out. Vasteras has to win all their remaining matches to have a realistic chance of winning the title, which they are capable of doing.

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