Harambee Stars of Kenya head coach Sebastian Migne has rejected a proposal to have his team square up with Nigeria in a friendly game ahead of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt, Completesports.com reports.
The East Africans who will compete at the AFCON finals for the first time in 15 years will train in Paris, France for three weeks ahead of the tournament.
Football Kenya Federation president Nick Mwendwa has repeatedly confirmed that the body was working round the clock to secure a high profile build-up games for the Harambee Stars.
Migne in training session with Harambee Stars
There are reports that the Harambee Stars could line up against Nigeria and Tunisia before the AFCON finals this summer in Egypt, but Frenchman, Migne, is not keen on the proposal.
“Playing away in Abuja or Tunis with the probability of a heavy defeat just before the tournament starts may not help the team’s confidence,” a source told Nairobi News.
“Then the proposed dates for these matches are too close to the tournament and there is that possibility of getting injuries. You also have to factor in the weather.”
Kenya could however face Madagascar, Uganda or Ivory Coast in France, with Migne expected to name his 30-man squad for the French camp this week.
By Adeboye Amosu
COMMENTS
Any Coach who is afraid of defeat is not a good Coach. This is because that is where you weigh the strength of your team which will prepare you for strong opponents and also to correct your errors when the real competition starts.
All these oyibo journey men taking advantage of African distinctional governments and reeping our people off.
Many of them can not even coach a championship club in England.
What a shame of a people.
Whenever i ponder about Africa and her too many troubles, I feel so ashamed to be an African.
Where but in Africa will a professor be a VP a man with a disputed high school (WAEC) certificate?
What is about Nigeria that many teams don’t want play the super eagles before AFCON?
Haha haha! The man is afraid of “heavy defeats”. Thank God this man has given some people reasons to see that Gernot Rohr is far better in instilling Team confidence than some coaches. Just imagine! A coach afraid to loose to heavyweights when they have not even played the match. Well, this is to tell that Nigeria still has this “Fear Factor” that they give their opponents whenever they hear the name Nigeria alone. That is, all our opponents also gave this feeling so it’s left for us to work hard and make them feel good with their feelings about us
*all our opponents in our AFCON GROUP also have this feeling*
CSN please edit button na
@CJ, right on the money my Brother, that country is toast. Anyway they should try and contact other countries, hopefully they would find a willing [email protected], do u know the former VP is not even a Nigerian, you begin to wonder why these goons don’t care about that Yeye country.
We Kenyans do not want Nigeria to steal our secret Card. We shall show these big Teams what in Kenya we call Kanyoni wa Ngethe, Ask Ghana what they found in Nairobi. More so, what will a game against Nigeria, a team we have given headache (remember that freekick in Calabar) even with our reserve team help us with?
Lol. My Kenyan brother, welcome to our Nigerian football forum site. I like your optimism. You beat Ghana in Nairobi 1-0 and they returned the favour in Accra to top your group. Curiously, both your country and Ghana are declining to play a friendly with Nigeria. But your coach has now given the reasons, so it’s understandable.
Ah, I remember that match in Calabar in 2013 when Kenya almost did the unthinkable until Nigeria equalised in the dying minutes. But you forgot to add we beat you in the return leg in Nairobi with Uhuru Kenyatta watching in the stadium. I remember that delightful Ahmed Musa strike from about 30 yards out to silence the stadium and get Uhuru uncomfortable in his seat.
But Kenya has really improved with exciting players, led by your talented captain, Victor Wanyama. I like what I saw in your last match against Ghana. Looking forward to what the new guys and dark horses like your country, Namibia and Zimbabwe bring to play in Egypt in June.
Cheers.
Lol, I was about to comment on Njuguna’s SELECTIVE MEMORY, conveniently forgetting the defeat handed to the Harambee Stars at home in the return leg, but Kel has addressed that already. Welcome to CSN, kenyan brother. The so called minnows are determined to make a mark in this year’s Afcon. Zimbabwe in particular is one country that you underrate at your own peril. Knowledge Musona and co are rearing to go, and have shown great improvement in recent games.