Africa-Press – Mauritius. Former Azam FC midfielder Kenneth Muguna has explained why he is not part of the Harambee Stars team. The Kenya national side is in Mauritius for the Four-Nations tournament, and Muguna was surprisingly left out.
The former Gor Mahia skipper had been a regular part of Engin Firat’s squad in recent times, but when the Turkish coach announced his Mauritius-bound team, the attacking midfielder was not part of it.
Muguna explains omission This was a shocking omission, as Muguna is always a dependable creative force for the national side. However, he has now set the record straight on why he is missing.
“I couldn’t make it to the national team camp due to unavoidable circumstances, I had a conversation with the head coach and am happy he understood the situation.
“Can’t wait to represent the country again in our future assignments,” Muguna said via a Twitter statement.
In Muguna’s absence, Firat took nine midfielders to take part in the non-competitive Four-Nations tournament, which also has Djibouti and Mauritius as participants.
Richard Odada, who plays for Philadelphia Union and was named the man of the match against Pakistan, Boniface Omondi of Gor Mahia, Kenya Police’s Cliffton Miheso and Charles Ouma, Bandari’s Abdallah Hassan, Ararat’s Amos Ndondi, former Gor Mahia star Anthony Akumu, who is currently with the J1 League Sagan Tosu of Japan, are among the midfielders representing Kenya.
Others are Joseph Mwangi of Nzoia Sugar and Victor Omune from AFC Leopards. While he will not be available for the June tournament, Muguna would hope to get back to the national side for future assignments.
AFCON and World Cup qualifiers After featuring in the Four-Nations tournament, the next games for Kenya are the Africa Cup of Nations and World Cup qualifiers, with the first games scheduled for November 2023.
When the time comes to take on opponents in both qualifiers, Firat will need experienced and tested players like Muguna. Against Pakistan, Odada and Teddy Akumu were partnered in deep midfield, while Eric Ouma, although a natural left-back, was deployed in an advanced position.
Amos Nondi, also a fullback, was lined up as an attacker as he played in front of Daniel Sakari. Clifton Miheso and Abdalla Hassan came on when Firat made changes in the second half.
After beating Pakistan, a lowly ranked nation, by a 1-0 scoreline on Wednesday, June 14, 2023, eyes will be keen to see whether Firat will stick with his strategy or he will change and deploy players in their natural positions.
Kenya are set to play two games in Mauritius and will be in action on Sunday, June 18, when they take on the hosts. Harambee Stars will play fewer games after their match against Djibouti failed to kick off.
The Djibouti encounter had to be erased because Kenya travelled on Monday, June 13, 2023, and the game had been scheduled for the previous day. Mauritius are expected to give Kenya a sterner test than Pakistan, and should the East Africans win, it will relieve pressure on Firat.
Based on their global FIFA rankings, the Islanders are ranked 180th, while Pakistan are at position 195. The former Moldova head coach has faced criticism over the nonconvincing performance of the Harambee Stars, but the win over Pakistan could be the beginning of a brighter future.
Firat has called on the supporters of the national team to give him an opportunity to build a strong team. For him, fans should not pressure him and the team for immediate results.
He has always called for patience as he aims to take Kenya to the upcoming AFCON finals and is also aiming to try and help Kenya grab their first-ever ticket to the World Cup.
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