BY TIJAN SCHWEIN
A vibrant league and clubs naturally translate to a formidable national football team, rightly so because the clubs act as a feeder programme to the senior side. They not only identify and nurture talent but also train the players on the basics regarding their career.
World over, football powerhouses have some of the best run leagues – talk of reigning world champions Germany, five-time World Cup holders Brazil as well as Argentina, and you realise that these countries not only boast of well-run leagues but also efficient youth feeder programmes.
Closer home, Ivory Coast – the reigning African Cup of Nations Champions, though ravaged by decades of civil war, has one of the best football academies in Africa – Asec Academy. It is this academy that moulded Manchester City’s midfield wizard Yaya Toure and his sibling brother Kolo Toure – the indefatigable centre-half who plies his trade with English Premier League giants Liverpool.
Naturally, in sports, when you invest in structures, and spice it up with sound management, it becomes the oasis of success. The trickle effect is phenomenal.
Sadly, in Kenya, sound management, football academies and vibrant leagues remain a foreign phenomenon. Thanks to the decades of rot, ineptitude and inefficiency, Harambee Stars has failed to live to its full potential. As for the Football Kenya Federation officials, they are only too willing to preside over the death of the beautiful game.
Stars have over the ages become a laughing stock. They are not only a punching bag when it comes to World Cup and African Cup of Nations qualifiers, but also lack strong clubs that can go head-to-head with Africa’s best.
You see, Stars have flattered to deceive in the past, making five appearances at the Afcon showpiece in 1972, 88, 90, 92 and 2004 – none of which has been worth writing about as the farthest they have gone is the group stage. To add salt to injury, Stars have never won a single match at the Afcon finals save for 2004, when they crushed a timid Burkina Faso 3-0 in the non-consequential final group match before boarding the plane back home.
Since then, it has been an agonising wait, one that stretches 11 years, and nobody knows when they will ever grace the event again .Competing at Africa’s grandest stage continues to elude the national team.
Sadly, the dismal performance is not just limited to Kenya but is turning out to be a cancer that ails the region at large. Neighbours Uganda, have not fared any better. Though they have matched Kenya’s’ record of five appearances (1962, 68, 74, 76 and 1978) at the Afcon showpiece, their best performance was 37 years ago in 1978 when they finished as runners-up. Ironically that was the last time they participated.
Another neighbour, Rwanda, has made just one appearance, in 2004, when alongside Kenya, they participated in the 23rd edition of the competition held in Tunis, Tunisia, but were bundled out at the group stage.
Tanzania’s Taifa Stars has been another dismal performer, making just one appearance in 1980 but falling out at the group stage.
Grand mismanagement
So why do teams from the region, and Kenya in particular, perform so dismally? Former Kenya international and Harambee Stars’ coach Zedekiah’ Zico’ Otieno, currently coaching Kenyan Premier League outfit Sony Sugar blames it on mismanagement.
“The poor performance by these teams is a question of management from our side. People come up with good blue prints but let them gather dust once they assume office. That is telling,” he laments. “Secondly, we cannot play in the finals if we do not come up with a youth feeder programme .We need to produce players who will take over the mantle from the old guard.”
“Players like Oliech (Dennis) and Mariga (MacDonald) have already offered enough and it’s high time we began thinking beyond them. Who are going to replace them? If there were youth academies, it wouldn’t be a problem, but in our case, these academies are non-existent to begin with.”
He continues: “If we can’t take time to develop talents and infrastructure, we are going nowhere. Sadly, we want to sit, expect and wait for miracles. Football, just like with any other job, requires a plan, which must be executed with set objectives in mind,” he explained.
It is this lack of planning that has been blamed for the dismal performance by Kenya’s clubs at the continental club championship.
Last term, for instance, Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards – Kenya’s oldest and most illustrious clubs – were both bundled of the Confederation of African Football (Caf) Champions’ League and the CAF Confederates Cup respectively at the first round. This season, Sofapaka, who were flying the country’s flag at the Confederation Cup, were tossed out at the preliminary phase by FC Platinum of Zimbabwe on a 4-2 aggregate after succumbing to identical 2-1 defeats in both legs.
Gor are still flattering to deceive –with a round two date with Congolese side AC Leopards up the cards, but after the first leg 1-0 defeat, it would be folly to expect them to advance further in the elite club competition, not when the management is dismal, when even winning bonuses are yet to be settled.
Gor started navigating their way in this competition with a two- leg date with Caisse Nationale de Prévoyance Sociale Sport of Madagascar, who they knocked out at the preliminary stage after a 3-3 deadlock courtesy of the away goal rule. The first leg meeting in Nairobi had ended in a slender 1-0 win Gor before they fell 3-2, sneaking through by virtue of the two goals scored away.
This “victory” earned them a block buster tie with Congolese giants AC Leopards who recently prevailed 1-0 at home, at the Nyayo National Stadium, leaving them with a gigantic task ahead of the return leg meeting in Congo.
A critical analysis of Kenyan clubs reveals entities at cross roads – teams that lack pedigree, quality and organisation or the financial muscle to go head-to-head with Africa’s crème de la crème.
Former Kenya international and Gor Mahia skipper Austin Oduor, father to Arnold Origi, and uncle to Belgian World Cup Stars Divock Origi, opines that the national team cannot do well when the clubs are weak.
If the years are rolled back, you would also agree. In 1987, as Oduor skippered Gor the historic and famous Nelson Mandela Cup win, now renamed the Caf-Confederation Cup, Gor and AFC Leopards essentially ruled the region and continent.
In essence, Harambee Stars drew the bulk of its players from these two clubs and it was little wonder the national team did well.
“Unless we go back to the basics, we will remain laughing stock of the region, indeed the whole continent. We must make heads roll, change management and take the beautiful game to the masses,” he concludes.
For now, Kenya will contend with playing the flower girl role as Africa’s ambitious side such as Zambia, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Tunisia, Egypt et al continue to toast to victories.
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