Top flight football is the dream of local boys

SPORTPESA ALLSTARS TRAINING AT KASARANI FOR HULL CITY FRIENDLY MATCH Hull City Coach Daniel O'Keeffe talk to Sportpesa AllStars during training at Kasarani Stadium on Friday 27/01/17 ahead of their friendly match in February.PHOTO:BONIFACE OKENDO

Top flight football.

That is the phrase on the minds of 18 footballers from local clubs, who will play a friendly match against an English Premier League side in Europe next week.

The players, selected from an initial squad of 47 will play against Hull City, a side that plays in EPL, an epitome of top flight club football.

The SportPesa All Stars, sponsored by the title sponsors of Kenyan Premier League, SportPesa and the shirt sponsors of Hull City, will play at KCOM Stadium on February 27. The match will be televised live on KTN Home, Bamba Sport and SuperSport 9 at 9.30 pm local time.

In July 2016, SportPesa entered a three-year sponsorship deal with Hull City; a deal that saw SportPesa become the club’s shirt sponsor. As part of the sponsorship, the Hull City side agreed to play friendly matches with a Kenyan team.

Players reported to camp at Kasarani Stadium on Thursday, and will play a friendly against Kariobangi Sharks today, at the same venue at 3pm.

“They are ready and very excited about the match,” said Neville Pudo, the AllStars Team Manager who will travel with the squad to Hull on Wednesday. “This will be football at a different level and they are prepared. They are adjusting well, and I am sure it will not be a struggle.”

Even though Pudo knows that KPL clubs cannot hold a candle to EPL standards, he is optimistic that All Stars will give a good account of themselves.”

“This is a good opportunity that can open doors for the players and they know that. They want to prove themselves and they will definitely give it their best shot,” he said, adding that based on how well they have trained, anything is possible, “after all, no player goes in to a match to lose.”

Going by the rewards, the players will live up to Pudo words. Should they win, the sponsors will give them Sh 1.1 million. Each goal will net them Sh100, 000 and a draw will leave their wallets fatter by Sh 500,000, and give them a whole new meaning of the phrase top flight football.

Meanwhile, SportPesa will officially announce a partnership with the Kenya Tourism Board and Kenya Airways tomorrow, in an initiative meant to promote sports tourism in Kenya.