Second chance for Oboya

By GILBERT WANDERA

Out of favor Kenyan attacking mid-fielder Patrick Oboya hopes to use the Nile Basin tournament here in Cairo to fight for his place back in the national team and re-launch a faltering football career.

Oboya, who signed a two-year contract with Most FK of the Czech Republic last year, is the most experienced player among the 23-member squad picked by coach Zedekiah Otieno for the now seven-nation tournament.

"I am ready to take back my position in the team. I have had a lot of challenges including a long-term thigh injury, but this is now history. I will use this tournament to re-discover my form and prove to the country that I am back," he said.

Regarding his football career, Oboya said he hopes to impress in this tournament and get ready to for trials in Sweden later this month.

INEXPERIENCED PLAYERS

"Talks have been going on between my club and a top Swedish club. I was supposed to go for trials this week but this tournament came up and I had to attend. The trials will now have to wait until the tournament ends," he said.

Even though, the Kenyan team is made up of mostly young and inexperienced players, Oboya believes this will not hinder them from making an impact in this tournament.

"It is true that we had not had enough time to train and most of the players are young and lack the necessary experience but this will not hinder us from doing well. This is a good team that local football managers should build on for the future," he added.

Oboya said they are ready to put behind them the disappointment of going out in the first round of Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup last month in Tanzania.

The attacking mid-fielder has had a long lay off from the national team after a good showing in previous performances where he was a key member of the side.

Signed contract

At the club level, he appeared unsettled at Most FK and he nearly left the second division side last year but signed an extension on his contract after failing to get a club on time.

Meanwhile, seven teams taking part in this year’s Nile Basin tournament have been divided into two pools.

This comes after the Democratic Republic of Congo were included in the tournament.

Group ‘A’ has hosts Egypt, Uganda, Burundi and Tanzania while Kenya, Sudan and Congo are in group ‘B’.

After playing Sudan today, Kenya wait until Saturday before taking on the Democratic Republic of Congo.