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The Nairobian

OKUMBI URGES AFCON FOCUS: As Stars board chartered plane headed for Guinea Bissau

Football

By Rodgers Eshitemi | Mar 21, 2016

**HARAMBEE STARS TRAIN Harambee Stars train at Moi International Sports Centre Kasarani on tuesday, March 15, 2016. PHOTO: JONAH ONYANGO.**

Harambee Stars head coach Stanley Okumbi has urged his players to give their best in Wednesday’s first leg match of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier against hosts Guinea Bissau.

Stars are third in Pool ‘E’ with a point same as bottom-placed Bissau, but edged out on goal superiority and are three points behind joint leaders Congo Brazzaville and Zambia whom they drew with and lost to respectively.

The national team is expected to leave the country this morning for the first leg before hosting the West African nation in the reverse tie on March 26 in Nairobi.

Although Stars lost by a solitary goal to Kenyan Premier League side Posta Rangers in Friday’s friendly match, Okumbi remains positive and is confident of pulling off a surprise in his first competitive match in charge since his appointment last month.

“We are prepared, motivated and ready for the match. The morale in camp is high and everybody has been responding well to training,” Okumbi told Feverpitch moments after naming his travelling party.

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“The result didn’t go our away against Rangers and I am not concerned about that because there were a lot of positives we took away from that match. It is a day that everybody got a chance to play and I am happy we were able to identify at least two new players who never got a chance before.

“It will be a tough match but we just need to be at our best and give our all. Looking at the table, we are not badly off, but in this two legged match there is no room for errors at all.”

The local-based players, who depart for Bissau this morning will be joined by their foreign-based counterparts led by captain Victor Wanyama (Southampton, England), Arnold Origi (Lillestrom, Norway) and Michael Olunga (Djugarden, Sweden). Others are Brian Mandela (Maritzburg United, South Africa), Ayub Timbe (Lierse, Belgium), Johanna Omollo (Antwerp, Belgium), David Owino, Jesse Were, Anthony Akumu (Zesco United, Zambia) and Paul Were (Kalloni, Greece).

Elsewhere, former Thika United and Posta Rangers coach John Kamau has been re-appointed as the national U20 team head coach ahead of next month’s first leg of the 2017 African U20 Cup qualifier against Sudan in Khartoum.

The Dutch-trained coach will be deputized by former Western Stima and Kakamega Homeboyz assistant coach Hesbon Nyabinge.

The technical bench has already named a 32-man provisional squad that will report to camp on March 28.

“I am very happy to be back as the junior team coach. Getting a second chance is always not easy, but I am glad the new office recognized my efforts. We are looking forward to build strong youth team,” said Kamau.