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At exactly midnight (Kenyan time) on June 23 this year, Philemon Otieno is expected to line up on the right hand side of defence for Harambee Stars against Algeria in both teams’ opening match of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations at the June 30 Stadium in Cairo.
This positioning will pit him to defend against Stars’ Group ‘C’ opponents, led by Manchester City's left-footed dazzler Riyard Mahrez, Senegal's Keita Balde and Tanzania's free-scoring striker Mbwana Samatta who has developed a predictable habit of attacking the opponent's box from the left-hand side.
When Nation Sport reached out for comment on his expectations ahead of these “David vs Goliath” duels, the Gor Mahia defender elected to carefully choose his words, explaining instead that the experiences he's garnered while on continental duty for his club over the past two years will come in handy on such occasions.
Otieno has — alongside his current club teammates - toured Enugu State in Nigeria, plus Blantyre (Malawi), Malabo (Equatorial Guinea), Pretoria (South Africa), Tunis (Tunisia), Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), Kigali (Rwanda), Douala (Cameroon), Luanda (Angola), plus Algiers in Algeria and Egypt's capital Cairo to compete for K'Ogalo in both the Caf Confederation Cup and Caf Champions League over the past two years.
Considering what he witnessed and experienced during these trips, the former Ushuru player insists a return to Cairo, where his team was handed a 4-0 spanking by this season's Confederation Cup winners Zamalek earlier in the year, could herald a more positive outing.
"I do not want to tell you we will beat so and so or not because I honestly don't know," he explained.
"But I know that we will be best prepared for all our assignments in Egypt. Playing on the continent has made me a better player. I can feel it," he told Nation Sport.
"For example," he adds when asked to substantiate, "there are matches we played (while on club duty) very well, like in Angola (against Petro) and Algeria (away to NA Hussein Dey), but still lost.
Now we know it is a different level of competition and there is no room for mistakes even if we are human."
"We have to believe and play very well as we did against Ghana at home (during the qualification campaign).
“Our mentality will be key. Even if we are facing some of the best players in the world at the Nations Cup, we will not sit back and admire them as they play. We will fight."
Besides Otieno, Migne has also picked Gor Mahia's Joash Onyango and Francis Kahata for the continental showpiece with this trio primed to contribute significantly to Kenya's cause.
