This archive report was first published on 27 July 2019.
Kenya's football team, led by coach Sebastien Migne, is set to face Tanzania in a crucial CHAN qualifier match in Dar es Salaam on Sunday. This match will be a test of Migne's ability to adapt and find talent in his team.
Since the qualifiers for the last African Cup of Nations (AFCON), Migne has consistently fielded a lean team. However, for the CHAN assignment, he is now operating with almost an entirely new setup.
Contrastingly, Tanzania's squad for the CHAN qualifier has a strong backbone of local-based players, with 10 players from the Egypt party included in the initial provisional squad.
Notably, while Harambee Stars has no players from the squad that started against Tanzania's Taifa Stars in their second Group C African Cup of Nations (AFCON) match, Tanzania has six players from that squad.
These players include Simba SC trio Aishi Manula, Gadiel Michael, and Erasto Nyoni, as well as David Mwantika and Mudathir Yahya (Azam FC), and Kelvin Yondani (Young Africans), who all started against Kenya in Egypt.
John Bocco, Metacha Mnata, Feisal Salum, and Frank Domayo were also in Cairo during the duel that Kenya won 3-2, with all goals coming from foreign-based players.
Only Francis Kahata was locally based in Migne's squad then, but has since moved to Tanzania giants, making him ineligible for the CHAN assignment.
“New young players have a chance to give me the answer if they can compete at top level. The national team is always open to performing players and it's good for them, and for Kenya,” said Migne.
According to the Confederation of African Football, CHAN was created to give local-based players a chance to compete at the continental level, as foreign-based players have been dominating the competition.
Tanzania's interim coach, Ettiene Ndayiragije, is optimistic about his team's chances, saying they have started their preparations well and the players have shown quality and character.
“Every game is tough. This is the game we need to win, it's a knockout, if you lose you are out, we cannot afford to lose. We know Kenya is a good team but we will play well to win and ease the pressure for the return leg,” Ndayiragije said.
The return match will be held a week later in Nairobi at the Moi Sports Centre Kasarani.
