Sammy Kitula

6 August 2010

Nairobi — Kenya's under-20 host Sudan at Nyayo National Stadium from 4pm on Saturday in the return leg of their Africa Youth Championships encounter.

At the time of starting this preview, everything was going Kenya's way.

Already, the national youth team has one leg into the last round of matches as they seek to qualify for next year's Africa Youth Championships to be held in Libya.

Two weeks ago, they won the first leg match 2-0 away in Khartoum, and can afford the luxury of drawing, losing 2-1 or 1-0 and still advance!

And it's this something that's going to determine Kenya's otherwise erratic performance in youth football and that will, hopefully, be determined in the 90-plus minutes of football.

Sudan have been regulars at this tournament, having appeared an impressive nine times compared to Kenya's four in its 15 editions since 1977. This isn't some sort of reverse jinx. It's just reality.

The dangermen for Kenya are, and have been, the same cast of Mathare United duo of Innocent Mutiso and Jacob Keli.

And while it's been a somewhat quiet year for David Mwaura, the resurgence of Tusker FC's Paul Were has been more than enough to sustain their championship charge.

And while Kenya Commercial Bank's Caleb Otieno has not been your regular custodian at his club, the defence has done more than enough to cover, and any back-line that includes some combination of Cyrus Shitote, Milton Milimo, Musa Mohamed and Charles Odete isn't going to do Sudan any favors.

"We have been working on all the departments and we hope to be polished before the kick-off," said Kenya's head coach, Vince Ombiji.

"Sudan are quite technical and their forwards can at times be fast, but that doesn't mean that our defence won't play their part."

Sudan hasn't been in the business of doing themselves any either, and 90 minutes of nail-biting, end-to-end stuff two weeks ago in their backyard that ended in soul-silencing defeat has to be relevant.

It's certain that they are all-in, certain that they're downtrodden, and certain that they're aware their qualification came to the worst of ends despite one of their most energetic performances.

So to say that it's going to be a battle is an understatement, because all players from both teams will likely have a part to play at some point.

Mwaura's availability provides relief for the tired legs in attack.

There's no getting around it - everyone has been on short rest, and that can't be an excuse. But there's still football to be played, and it's meaningful any way you cut it.

There is a chance for Sudan to get a big win and confound the hosts, while Kenya needs this one to make their maiden appearance at the continental tourney as well as aim for the Fifa World Under-20 Championship to be held in August, 2012, in Venezuela.

Ombiji will have kept his players focused on the task at hand and he will be confident of finishing off spirited but limited opponents.

He will have a significantly stronger squad at his disposal for the clash at Nyayo, only making one change in the striking department.

Jacob Keli, Joseph Kuria, Victor Majid and Innocent Mutiso could all feature, while David Mwaura is in line to make his first competitive appearance since that Under-20 debacle in Cairo last year.

Probable Kenya line-up: The team that played in the first leg: Caleb Andola (goalkeeper), Cyrus Shitote, Milton Milimo, Musa Mohamed, Charles Odete, Teddy Akumu, Paul Were, Edwin Mwaura, Jacob Keli, Joseph Kuria, Victor Majid, Innocent Mutiso (captain).