SOCCER: Kenyan Football On The Brink

The hiring of Reinhardt Fabisch as the national team, the Harambee Stars' Director of Coaching for three years is a welcome move by the Kenya Football Federation to uplift Kenya's flagging international football standards. Kenya's FIFA ranking had plummetted since the last World Cup, in France in 1998 and change was in order in the way the game was both run and played at international level.

The Premier League, first and second divisions, various estate and mini-leagues have produced class players whom the team on the technical bench had not nurtured into a winning side, leaving fans and sponsors alike scratching their heads as to where the country's soccer administration was going wrong. Before Fabisch's arrival, the Stars were in a lean season which was the down side of the boom of 1997 when, during Fabisch's last assignment as coach, he guided Kenya to a 1-1 draw with the Super Eagles of Nigeria at home and the brink of World Cup qualification. The Stars had not scored an international goal at home since their 1-1 draw with Madagascar in 1998 in an African Cup of Nation qualifying match in Nairobi.

Ironically, the tide started to change on the eve of the departure of former coach, James Siang'a, who presided over a disastrous outing by the Stars in the East and Central African Senior Challenge Cup in Mbale and Kampala, Uganda in November. Fabisch did not change the squad Siang'a had named to face "Chipolopolo" (Copper Bullets) the Zambian National Side, in a friendly match in Nairobi on January 4, 2001, that would serve as a warm-up for both nations; the Stars, for their January 13th African Cup of Nations tie with Gabon in Nairobi and the Zambians, for their clash with Nigeria on the same day. A re-vitalised Stars outfit drubbed the Bullets 3-1 to enthusiastic accolades from fans.

Much was said about the Stars' poor performance in Uganda, from their not having enough time to rest after the Four Nations' Castle Lager Cup in Nairobi in October, in which the Stars finished runners-up to Uganda, to not training before the CECAFA tournament, to murmurs within the players' ranks that morale was low because of unpaid allowances dating back to the Nairobi tournament. The players' vented their frustration in an orgy of indiscipline that saw three players suspended and five cautioned. Joseph Korir, an official who travelled with the team, denied allegations that the Stars' debacle in Mbale, a goalless draw with Eritrea, 1-1 tie with last year's winners, Rwanda "B" and 0-2 loss to Uganda "B" in the quarter-finals was engineered to oust Siang'a from office.

Nevertheless, the die was cast and a sea-change was inevitable in both the playing unit and the coaching staff.

The Stars are a squad of talented players, most of whom are young and in the prime of their careers. They have led their teams into Premier League contention with their football artistry, and the Stars' management have given them the opportunity to realise their potential. Before Siang'a's exit, he had selected five new players, Walter Odede and Philip Opiyo of Mathare United, Stephen Ochieng of Gor Mahia, Salim Shaban of Mumias Sugar and Bernard Agunda, who plays in the Seychelles. They joined veterans Maurice Sunguti, of Uganda's Sports Club Villa, Tusker FC's John "Mo" Muiruri and Matahre's Alfred Chege among the forwards, Kennedy Odhiambo, Josiah Ougo and Anthony Shikubu among the midfielders, Musa Otieno, of South Africa's Sanlam Santos, and Kenya Commercial Bank's Eric Omondi on defence and goalkeepers, Mathare's Duncan Ochieng and Tusker's Victor Onyango.

Clearly, Fabisch has the same depth of talent to work with as he did in 1997. His team had included sure-footed John "Baresi" Odhiambo, hot striker Kennedy Simiyu and hard-as-nails goalkeeper Francis Onyiso. Fabisch's ability to read his opponents' game plan, and counter it with tactical maneouvres which open up the tightest midfield and scatter the meanest defense, will put him in good stead as he faces his first test, the Stars' match against Gabon.

Fabisch has named as his assistants Tusker FC coach, Jacob "Ghost" Mulei, who guided his team to both the 2000 Premier League and East and Central African Club Championship, Joe Kadenge, a household name in Kenyan Football in the 1960's, Tom Olaba, and old comrade-in-arms John "Bobby" Ogolla, who was Fabisch's assistant in the latter's first run as coach, for the Fourth All-Africa Games in 1987 in Nairobi, when the Stars lost to the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon in the final, and also in 1997.

If given a free hand, Fabisch will make good his promise of putting Kenya on the map, both regional and continental, and at the end of his tenure have the team ready for the 2006 World Cup qualifiers, where they would advance beyond the preliminary round to the Group Stage to compete with 24 elite African football-playing nations.