Midfielder Mariga out of Seychelles match

By Gilbert Wandera

Real Sociedad midfielder McDonald Mariga will miss Friday's crucial pre-World Cup qualifier against Seychelles in Victoria.

Mariga injured his hand when playing for the Spanish side on Sunday against Rayo Vallecano in a match Sociedad lost 4-0.

Real Sociedad midfielder McDonald Mariga. Photo Standard

The midfielder was at the Harambee Stars camp Tuesday morning and did not train with the rest of the team as he had a cast on his right hand.

Harambee Stars coach Francis Kimanzi confirmed the absence of Mariga but said that they will be fine without him.

"He is out. He cannot make it for the match and though he is one player every coach would like to have, we have no choice but to wish him a quick recovery.

"We hope he will be available for the return match but now we must concentrate on the players we have," Kimanzi said.

Kimanzi has also ruled out replacing the midfielder at this time insisting he has enough players in camp to pick from.

Mariga said he did not know how fast he would heal although the team doctor had indicated it would take at least two weeks.

"I was informed by the Harambee Stars doctor this morning that this type of injury takes about two weeks but he still has to look at it and tell me how bad it is," said Mariga.

This is the third match that Mariga will miss for Stars this year. He was suspended for the Africa Nations Cup qualifier against Angola in September. One month later he missed the qualifier against Guinea Bissau at home though he returned for the last match against Uganda in Kampala last month.

Mariga’s club Real Sociedad said in a post match medical report that the player injured his right hand, which has caused a strain and also affected one of the joints in his first finger.

The player at the same time has advised his colleagues not to take their opponents Seychelles for granted even though the team may not be viewed as a powerhouse in African football.

"I only remember playing against a club from Seychelles with Kenya Pipeline in 2006 and I don’t think we can afford to underrate them because they are also keen to qualify and so this is very important for both teams," he said.

Apart from Mariga, all the other foreign-based players have already joined the team and had their full training session Tuesday morning hoping to be included in the starting line-up.

The team departs for Seychelles Thursday afternoon for the Friday match. The return match is scheduled for November 15 in Nairobi and the winner qualifies for the group stages to fight for a place in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.