By Gilbert Wandera
AFC Leopards midfielder Bernard Mang'oli has been named in the 24-man Harambee Stars squad that goes to camp on Monday ahead of the September 3 Africa Cup of Nations home tie against Guinea Bissau.
Mangoli, a former JMJ Academy midfielder earns his first call-up to the national team after an impressive performance for the struggling Leopards side.
Other new call-ups include Yusuf Juma of Thika United and Fredrick Onyango of Sony Sugar.
Both players have also been impressive for their teams in the Kenyan Premier League.
Of the 24 locally-based players named by coach Zedekiah Otieno nine of them are coming back into the squad after previous call-ups.
They include KCB defender Eugene Asike, Collins Kisuya (AFC Leopards), Ali Bhai (Western Stima), Paul Were, Jockins Atudo (Tusker), Moses Arita (Thika United), Stephen Waruru, Jacktone Odhiambo (Ulinzi) and Collins Okoth (Gor Mahia).
All the eight foreign-based players who featured in this month’s international friendly against Botswana have been retained for the match.
They are expected in camp in the last week of training to link up with the local based players. Stars lost the Botswana match 1-0 in Gaborone.
The team goes to camp on Monday afternoon at the Nyayo National Stadium and have less than three weeks of training before taking on Guinea Bissau.
Harambee Stars will be hoping to win against their opponents to enhance their chances of playing in next year’s Africa Cup of Nations finals.
They lie third in Group ‘J’ with four points after one win, a draw and two losses.
They lost their first match to Guinea Bissau 1-0, were held to a barren draw by Uganda Cranes in Nairobi before stopping Angola 2-1 in Nairobi and lost the return match 1-0 in Luanda.
Stars coach Zedekiah Otieno said while naming his squad he is confident of a win against Bissau encouraged by their performance against Botswana last week.
