A Fan's take on Kenyan Soccer

I'll start at home today. Charity begins at home, but don't call me Charity. There's gonna be drama

Kenya has been eliminated...  yet again. Remember what I said last time? Unless the team is reviewed, there is no way Kenyan football will prosper. I honestly think the problem lies with the team selection. We had problems with the management, we "changed" the managing body, then we thought our problem was the team manager/headcoach and went on to change the managers.... severally. And now... Mr Kimanzi, our very own UEFA trained headcoach, no more. Well he is still in the management board. He is now the technical director. What will he even do there from there? Fishy business eh?

Anyway, we can only hope for the best because the latest string of results have not been appealing. Even for the ardent fans. I hope this time they(the management) pay the players their dues this time. We don't want anymore Oliech sagas, now do we? Which also reminds me, as much as fans want to support the team, the government doesn't support them. This was highlighted by Kimanzi in his post-match interview. He said that the team gets minimal funding... apparently. We need to pull a "Germany' I think. They spent heavily(750million pounds) but they got the best. Look at the Germans now in the Euros.

Kenyan Premier league: Our beautiful league has resumed, earlier today in fact. AFC Leopards and Sony Sugar were first, and they played out a 1-1 draw. The good thing about AFC though, is that their prolific striker is back. Yes, Allan Wanga is back from the sidelines, and he marked his return with AFC equalizer. I actually think am growing into the team. Hopefully in a few weeks I'll know the full line up. I know there's many of us who know European Clubs' full line-ups and substitutes and don't even know the full back line of the Harambee Stars.

Further afield, England have made it into the quarters of  Euro 2012. A hard fought victory against Ukraine ensured they got ended up top of their group. France... stupid team. They suffocate England, beat Ukraine and then lose to Sweden. An eliminated team. Messed up, eh? But that's part of the beauty of the game.

Am sure my friend @kevin_seth will have something to say about the Euros but let me just put up these fixtures, for your viewing.

Thursday, June 21st

Czech Republic v Portugal 

Friday, June 22nd

Greece v Germany

Saturday, June 23rd

Spain v France

Sunday, June 24th

England v Italy

I think Spain vs France and England vs Italy will be mouth-watering encounters.

Lets talk more football some other time. And be sure to whisper a prayer for the Kenyan boys. It wouldn't hurt if we saw our team play in a major tournament sometime, now would it?

Dutch felled in Group of Death

Last time we spoke about football, Germany needed a point while the Dutch needed a miracle. Sadly they didn't pray hard enough, or maybe Portugal prayed harder. And so Germany sealed their position at the top of Group B, and I have to give credit to Denmark. I had ruled them out completely, even though they still exited the tournament, they had a better record than one of the huge favorites, Netherlands. Honestly for me, the Netherlands were a shock exit. I had predicted Portugal and Denmark would exit. but i still reiterated that a giant had to be sacrificed in the 'group of death'. I read a few good reactions on BBC Sport(If its not on BBC Sport, its gutter) and here are some that I think you might like too.  

Phil McNulty, BBC Sport chief football writer: "Cristiano Ronaldo delivers. Good to see great players gracing major tournaments - and whether you like him or not he is a great player."

Germany captain Philipp Lahm: "Every match in this group was difficult. 

"It would appear the Netherlands took the group of death literally and were utterly lifeless throughout their whole campaign."


Denmark came close to claiming a point against Portugal and certainly did not disgrace themselves in defeat by the Germans.


Seems that Van Persie's been a victim of his own reputation, Ronaldo the beneficiary of his.


Who would have thought Netherlands would be eliminated before England? And without a point to add salt to injury... 

Judging by those few comments, I could tell Euro night was legendary. I missed it, sadly. I was watching a very captivating series but I managed to catch the highlights, and boy were those Ronaldo goals classy!! I wonder if Ronaldo's critics(I don't want to say haters) will still label him 'lack-lustre'. I mean sure he is not upto Messi's level, but his level is no other mortal's, lets be real.

In another group, the 'stubborn hosts' Poland were eliminated along with the Russians they clashed with on the streets. Looks like they kept their eyes off the ball, eh?And then we have Spain Italy and Croatia fighting for their place in the quarter finals. Anyone could get in. Anyone could go home

Elsewhere, Kenya's Harambee Stars lost their Africa Cup/World Cup qualifier in Togo. Thats three matches we've failed to win, and in succession. That's messed up. Simple. I pray for the day we will see an improvement in Kenyan football. And it was this Origi guy that we were waiting for to 'solidify' our team at the back? In brighter news though, the Kenyan transfer window is almost coming to a close, and the market has been alive. Clubs have been on a signing spree, with friendly matches being organized to test the new players. I have a feeling KPL will be a good watch when the league resumes

In other unrelated news... the Soccer & Social tweet up was a success. People showed up, played their soccer and ended up having a good time. We played two long matches that ended 8-7 and 2-1. And since Saturday I haven't seen any 'subaru' on the TL concerning the that day. So am guessing it was a success.Well that was all for the love of the game.

More football after we are certain if England have made it to the quarters(I'm rooting for them). Lets see what effect Wayne Rooney will have on the Three Lions and who will have to step down for him and who among Italy, Spain and Croatia will join them in the quarter finals.

Its time we supported our own league

I would love to say something about our homegrown league, the Kenyan Premier League, although I really am clueless on how to start it so I will just say, that we need to support our league. We have become so engrossed in the world's most watched leagues; the English Premier League, The Spanish La Liga and the likes that at some point we forgot about our own.

It is understandable though, given that it has, until recently, been run by some shoddy management ever since the 80s. If you read up on the history of the Kenyan premier league, then you will see how Kenyan football has deteriorated... from having some of the best teams in the African champion's league... to a country that's currently ranked at 117 by the world football governing body, FIFA. Those were the days when AFC Leopards and Gor Mahia FC reigned East African football.

Am not sure how the poor management in the FKL played into this whole mess but I know for sure that it does affect the quality of football around. Youth academies shut down, players get paid peanuts etc, while the big boss men drive away with all the loot. And thats where FIFA came in... and since their intervention, we now see a better, though it could be even better, Kenyan Premier League.

We now see football clubs getting shirt sponsorship deals, stadiums getting renovated, and most of all, our league is being televised all over Africa through DSTV. To cut a long story short, we have come a long way with our local premier league, we cannot abandon it now. I think Gor and AFC fans have been the most ardent around. You always heard them even when the league was not so popular.

My only hope is that the football governing body in Kenya, FKF extends its disciplined structure to the lower levels, the nationwide league, and the county leagues.. (yes, I bet you didn't know those existed) and Kenyan football will soar to the heights most of us have never seen. Then maybe we could 'export' afew more players to play abroad and better their lives, if not to add colour to the Kenyan football scene.

Let's support local football people. To read more on the Kenyan Premier, just look up the article on Wikipedia here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenyan_Premier_League