Amrouche and his captain vow to end years of heartache

By Gilbert Wandera

Nairobi, Kenya: Harambee Stars will be out to revive their World Cup hopes as they take on African champions Nigeria at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani.

Stars are currently bottom of Group F after picking just two points in three matches, something that has left them needing a win at all costs to get back on track towards the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Malawi are top in the group with five points, while Nigeria are second, also with five points, but an inferior goal aggregate.

While qualifying for next year’s World Cup will be the pre-occupation of every Kenyan player, coach Adel Amrouche said beating Nigeria is the first priority.

“We can think about qualifying for the World Cup after today, but, for us, the main target is to bring down the African champions and give local fans something to celebrate.

“Our fans have been behind us for many years and this is the time to give back. Therefore getting a positive result remains the most important thing for us tomorrow (Wednesday) afternoon,” said Amrouche.

He is, however, concerned by the absence of strikers to give him goals today, especially after top striker Dennis Oliech was ruled out by suspension.

“We have had problems scoring goals in the past and the absence of Oliech just makes things tougher for us. I had hoped to rope in Paul Kiongera and Rama Salim, but they are injured.

“This is football and we will focus on what is going right in the team because there is nothing we can do. The goalkeeping department is well covered and the midfield is rich with a lot of talent,” he said.

Team captain, Victor Wanyama, has warned Nigeria to be wary of the Stars given that they will be playing at home.

“The 1-1 draw we had in Calabar has given us a lot of motivation. It gave us a good start going into today’s match and we are keen to finish off the job we started,” he said.

Stars boast a good home record having beaten Angola, Guinea Bissau and Seychelles in Nairobi in 2011 and Togo last year.

And should Stars beat the African Champions, the next hurdle would be getting a positive result in Malawi next week. This would pose the biggest obstacle as Stars have a poor away record. The most celebrated away result was a barren draw against Uganda Cranes in the 2012 African Cup of Nations qualifier and the March 23 1-1 tie against Nigeria.

In the absence of Oliech, Amrouche is likely to use Kepha Aswani upfront. Aswani is coming back into the team on the back of an outstanding performance for his Oman side Al Nasr for whom he scored seven goals in the just concluded season.

Home-ground advantage will play a key role in pushing the Stars to victory.

The Super Eagles will be pushed by their past dominance against Kenya even on home soil and so far there is no reason to believe they cannot pick victory in Nairobi.

Nigeria have had good preparation for this match which included a two-week training camp in Germany, culminating in a 2-2 draw against Mexico last Friday in a friendly match.