Three important tasks for Amrouche

By Sports Editor Omondi Onyatta

Coaches come and go; it was the former Kenyan football chief the late Joab Omino who infamously uttered these words. Untimely and unwarranted as this statement may have been, there is no denying that it captured what it feels to be the coach of Harambee Stars. The late Reinhard Fabisch, Bernard Lama, Francis Kimanzi and, of late, Henri Michel have come to epitomize Omino’s statement. Adel Amrouche, the latest occupant of this hot seat, will be hoping that his time in charge of the national team will bear more success than failure. After his unveiling on Tuesday last week, his work begins immediately with numerous pressing matters demanding his attention.

The striker scarcity in local football

The immediate former national tactician Michel famously quipped about the lack of potent strikers in Kenya.  It is not that hard to understand the reasons behind his statement. Last year’s top scorer in TPL, John Baraza, scored 18 goals in all competitions. The previous year, John Waruru of Ulinzi Stars led the scoring charts with a paltry 12 goals. Kenya struggled to penetrate the Burundian backline during the recent CHAN qualifier match in Nairobi because of the profligacy of Wesley Kemboi and Mike Baraza.

Perhaps, it is with this knowledge that Amrouche has identified the likes of Divock Origi as players he would like to reward with a call-up. The Algerian will have to dig deeper than Dennis Oliech for a marksman who can strike fear into hearts of some of the best defences in the world. Already, he has acknowledged the need to nurture soccer talents from the grassroots.

World Cup qualifier match v Nigeria

Amrouche’s immediate task will be to formulate a strategy to counter the threat of Nigeria’ Super Eagles. The March 22 showdown in Nigeria will be a baptism of fire for the former Burundi coach with the hosts having won the AFCON in South Africa. Stars have never won away in Nigeria let alone at home. So confident are the African champions that they have proclaimed that a match against Kenya is a walkover. Amrouche will have to instill confidence and tactical discipline in his players in order to come back from Lagos with a favourable result.

Road to 2015 AFCON

Thanks to Kenya’s wishy-washy fortunes in football, the country will be unseeded for the draw of the 2015 AFCON tournament. This means that it must play in a pre-qualifier match; last time the local boys played in such a match, they lost to Togo. Amrouche must build a strong team in readiness for the tournament. Realistically, chances of qualifying for the World Cup in Brazil are next to none so Kenyans should realistically expect to see Stars in an international competition by 2015 at the very minimum.

First published in February 2013.