The national football team, Harambee Stars, have so far shown glimpses of what we expect if the two matches they have played so far in the ongoing Council of East and Central Africa Football Association (Cecafa) tournament are anything to go by.
They won the first match 2-0 against one of the favourites Rwanda before playing out a barren draw against Libya and as they face Zanzibar in a group A decider today, fans will be expecting them to sail to the semi-finals.
However, the team will not beat the best in the region without help from fans. The opening game against Rwanda, played at Bukhungu Stadium in Kakamega County witnessed an encouraging turn-out, but the match against Libya at Kenyatta Stadium in Machakos County saw only a handful of fans cheering on the national team.
Kenyan fans should be grateful to Cecafa for bringing the tournament here and they only show that by filling up the stadiums during matches. While having many fans will help us in future when we want to bid for other tournaments, it will also encourage the national team to play even better and clinch the trophy.
Moving matches from Kisumu to Machakos might have been a contributing factor to the low turnout in Machakos. However, Kenyan fans must show the region that we are not only about athletics like we did with the World Under-18 Championships at Kasarani. We also love the beautiful game and cherish our national team.
