NAIROBI (Xinhua) --
Kenya’s national football team coach Sebastian
Migne, says Kenya will turn around their misfortune and qualify
for the Africa Nations Cup.
The coach, who
signed a three-year contract, wants his team to focus on the
four-team Hero Intercontinental Cup, which starts on Saturday in
Mumbai.
“We need to engage
our players and put them under pressure to deliver. That is why
we need to test several patterns and players and with a
tournament like this, it is not just about winning but what
lessons do they learn,” Migne said on Friday in Nairobi.
The coach together
with his technical team finally left the country on Friday
morning and will arrive in Mumbai in time for Kenya’s first
match on Saturday against New Zealand. Two defenders, Dennis
Odhiambo and Bernard Ochieng, also made the trip.
“Our traveling
papers had problems and we [were] delayed in submitting them to
the Indian High Commission. But that has been worked on and here
we are off to India,” Migne said. The top two teams will face
off in the final on June 10 at the Mumbai Football Arena in
India.
The “Harambee Stars”
will use the tournament to gauge the strength of their squad
ahead of their fixture against Ghana in the Africa Nations Cup
qualifier in September.
Kenya must beat the
West African side and defeat Ethiopia and Sierra Leone to have a
realistic chance of topping the group and securing their ticket
to the 2019 finals in Cameroon. |