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The Nairobian

Three new names in Harambee Stars squad, Dennis Oliech misses out again

Football

By Rodgers Eshitemi | Mar 01, 2019

Harambee Stars Coach Sebastien Migne and Victor Wanyama. [Courtesy]

Two Europe-based players defender David Sessay (Crawley Town, England) and Oskarshamns midfielder Christopher Tangen Mbamba (Sweden) have been named in Harambee Stars squad as Dennis Oliech misses out once again.

The two are part of 24-man provisional Harambee Stars squad for the upcoming final ‘dead rubber’ Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers match against the Black Stars of Ghana on March 23, in Accra

Apart from the duo which is expected to make their maiden appearance for Sebastian Migne side, Kariobangi Sharks striker Duke Abuya is also hoping to gain his first cap as Gor Mahia striker Oliech is forced to wait on the sidelines once again.

The Frenchman has retained majority of the players who did duty in the last three qualifying matches.

“I feel great to have been called up to the national team. I thank my clubmates, coach and God for making my dream come true. I know it will not be easy, but I’m ready to work hard and make the final squad,” a jubilant Abuya told The Standard Sports.

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Only nine local based players were named in the squad that hits the camp on March 17. The quintet of Abdallah Hassan (Bandari), Allan Wanga (Kakamega HomeBoyz), Nicholas Kipkirui (Gor Mahia), Roy Okal (Mathare United) were named as reserves.

The reason for a few local-based in the squad, could be necessitated by the fact that Kenya will also be competing in the U-23 Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers as well as African Nations Championships Qualifiers (Chan).

Migné who is reportedly on holiday in Mombasa could not be reached for comment.

However, according to Football Kenya Federation Communication Manager Barry Otieno, FKF is fully behind the Frenchman’s team selection.

“It’s the job of the coach to make call ups and we will support him. We have two other competitions (Chan and U23 Olympics qualiers) coming up, maybe those players who missed out on this will be called up to assist those teams,” said Otieno.

Former Sportpesa Premier League golden-boot winner Masud Juma has made a return to the team barely three days after completing a one and half year deal move to Libyan champions Al Nasr.

Kenya and Ghana have already qualified for the upcoming four-week long continental show-piece in Egypt with a game to spare following Sierra Leone’s FA indefinite suspension by world governing body Fifa due to government interference.

Harambee Stars, who will be making a return to the continental stage after a 15-year hiatus, are top of the Group with seven points, one more than the Black Stars.