Rift Valley Soccer Academy win tournament organised by former Harambee Stars striker Allan Wanga

Former Harambee Stars Allan Wanga [Courtesy]

Rift Valley Academy on Saturday, July, 13 won the Diaspora 7 Aside tournament that was organised by former Harambee Stars striker Allan Wanga who recently retired from international football.

During the finals, Rift Valley Soccer Academy went head to head with Rongai All-Stars in a thrilling match which ended in a 0-0 draw before the two teams headed into a penalty shoot-out session.

Rift Valley Soccer Academy came out stronger than Rongai All-Stars during the penalty shoot-out thus lifting the trophy.

The event saw several Harambee Stars players form a team they called Zuang FC, named after the former Harambee Stars striker to take on the present sides in the competition.

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Wanga spoke about giving youth a chance in football and also echoed a few sentiments about his international retirement.

“You need to pave way for the younger generation, young talents that are also in the industry.

“I think my time was up, so that is why I decided to retire internationally and give a chance to young players who are upcoming and also looking forward to playing for the national team.

 “There is much talent on the ground and I think that is why we came up with this idea. We play with them to give them the confidence and also let them know that they can make it in terms of football,” said Wanga.

The present youngsters got a chance to interact with their idols and role models with players like Zesco United’s Jesse Were and Anthony Akumu present at the event.

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The tournament also saw the pair speak publicly on Harambee Stars following their omission from the squad for the AFCON tournament in Egypt in which Kenya exited in the first round.

“The coach continued with the same Philosophy, he continued with the same crop of players, the boys followed his good instructions but unfortunately, we were knocked out,” said Were.

With the AFCON cup still ongoing, players had their say on the remaining games with Wanga banking on Algeria to win the trophy while Were went for Senegal.

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