K'ogalo lands in Tunis ahead of clash with Esperance

By Tony Anelka In Tunis - Tunisia

Tunisia: Gor Mahia first delegation consisting of players, technical bench headed by coach Bobby Williamson and some club officials which left Nairobi on Thursday at 1.50am aboard Qatar Airways plane, landed in Tunis the capital city of Tunisia at exactly 3.24pm Kenyan time after taking off at Doha at around 9.30am.

They were received by the host team who booked them in one of the best hotels in Tunis and provided them with VIP treatment from the airport to the hotel.

In appreciating the warm reception by their hosts - Esperance club management, Gor Mahia deputy Secretary General Anima Oketch appreciated the warm reception accorded to them ahead of the return leg match on Sunday against Esperance who pulled a 3-2 win over Gor last weekend.

"This was beyond our expectations and the hosts have done a wonderful job in receiving us. They promised to handle us well and indeed they kept their word. They have helped in Visa clearance; gave us the best means of transport, the smooth transition of process after process with their help and to our surprise, to be booked in the best hotel here in Tunisia," Anima said.

The warm reception can be associated to the one Gor Mahia gave the Tunisians when they landed in Nairobi about a week ago and to Naima, that was the perfect way of reciprocating them.

“When they came to Nairobi, we received them well and they are true to their word because they promised to do the same," she added.

The hospitality that the team received here in Tunisia cannot be compared to what the team got when they visited Gabon to play US Bitam in the return leg of the first round knockout stage of champions league matches where Gor surprised the home team by taking them down through post match penalties despite poor officiating and rather what can be termed as 'hostile' treatment before the game.

Due to lack of direct flights from Nairobi to Tunisia, the team had to connect through Doha-Qatar to Tunisia, doing a long flight of six hours to the west of Doha over Atlantic ocean.

The remaining part of the team will be landing in Tunis later on Friday afternoon to join the rest in preparation for the match.

The players who remained behind were mostly those who were called up in national teams to take part in the friendly matches in FIFA calendar.

They include two Ugandans Dan Sserunkuma and Geoffrey Kizito who were away to Zambia with Uganda cranes.

Others are David Owino, Anthony Akumu, Timonah Wanyonyi and defender Musa Mohamed who flew to Sudan to play Sudan national team though the match was not played due to confusion of match venues and inconveniencies of rescheduling the match.

The remaining key players, together with club officials Ambrose Rachier and assistant Secretary General Ronald Ngala are expected to land in Tunis on Friday together with the remaining players.

K'Ogalo needs to win by two clear goals against their hosts - Esperance on Sunday to advance to the next stage of CAF champions league matches.