Without youth plan Stars won’t prosper

What you need to know:

  • One step forward, two steps backwards. There were times when we thought our national football team was getting better.
  • These days they are regularly playing international friendlies unlike it the past when some people even went ahead and almost sold all of them to Darfur!
  • The team is being treated better and the preparations for tourneys are taken more seriously.

One step forward, two steps backwards. There were times when we thought our national football team was getting better.

These days they are regularly playing international friendlies unlike it the past when some people even went ahead and almost sold all of them to Darfur! The team is being treated better and the preparations for tourneys are taken more seriously.

The only blot on the whole scenario is of course the paltry allowances the players get per day, but that too may soon be corrected.

So what is wrong with our team?

For quite some time now, Harambee Stars has become the punching bag for all and sundry. Every time the team is going to play, we get the sickening feeling that we are going to lose and to our dismay the inner feeling is almost always right. We have been reduced to thinking with our guts.

A few days ago, the national team played with Iraq and lost. We must remember that Iraq is a torn up country at war with itself. We do not know where they even practised but somehow they were able to beat us silly.

Our next stop was Thailand. Even against that country which dos not seem to feature anywhere in the geography of football we somehow managed to ‘save’ ourselves from the jaws of victory.

We lost there too and up till now, there has been no proper explanation for our losses. The coach is staying put even though it seems the national shoes are too big for him to fit in.

One thing is certain, whenever you ask any Kenyan what ails our football; the answer is chorused by all: we need a well-oiled youth program that shall help us groom new talent to replace the ageing people in the team.

That answer is thrown right left and centre by everybody. It has become a mantra, repeated even by grannies who know nothing about football. The clever ones will pull it back to the German Zgoll who started Olympic youth centres all over the country and produced some of the best Kenyan talent of that generation. The story always begins and ends with Zgoll.

Nothing has been done about it and we are certain nothing will be done soon.

At the moment it seems we do not have a regular starting XI and Okumbi is still tinkering to the best of his ability while we keep backsliding in terms of football.

The Football Kenya Federation may have people who love the game but it is easy to note that very few of them ever kicked a ball even for a non-league team.

They may be having the power to run football but they must get on board our former players who can help them a lot in the running of the national team. The government too must take the issue seriously. It must be part of the development.

Finally, the stadiums must be refurbished as soon as possible. These few things may help us out of the present malaise.