Kenya: Firat Leaves the Country, but He Wants to Stay On as Kenya Head Coach – AllAfrica.com

Nairobi — Turkish trainer engine Firat has left the country after the expiry of his short term contract, but the coach wants to stay on as Harambee Stars head coach as he sees a future with the national team.
The next international window is in March where Stars might play friendly matches, but the next phase of qualification for any major tournament is still a long way out as the next event is the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
But, the tactician has expressed his desire to continue what he says is an ambitious job to coach the Kenyan national team.
“I see a big future and big potential in this country. I talk to the people and there is so much support for the team and for me. And also, this is what I said on the first day, that if I don’t see a future it doesn’t make sense for me. But I have seen a team with character and what else can a coach ask for. Therefore, I am interested to stay,” the tactician stated.
Currently, there is uncertainty over Kenyan football with a caretaker committee formed by the Cabinet Secretary for Sports Amina Mohamed while embattled Federation boss Nick Mwendwa has been barred by courts from any football activities.
The tactician however hopes that once the situation is normalized, then he can be given a chance to come back and continue the work he has started.
The tactician has also admitted that the team was hugely affected by the off field issues that started on Thursday just a few hours before the team played Uganda, and heightened just before the match against Rwanda on Monday.
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“The boys had too much pressure and you could see at some point there legs were starting to be like stones. We didn’t know how tomorrow will be because every day there is news. At some point we hear FIFA will ban us, then the match is cancelled, after a short time the President is arrested… Even I with so much experience I got confused. Now think about the players. Psychologically there was a lot of pressure on the players and it was crazy,” admitted the coach.
He however lauded the players for showing character to win 2-1 and sign off their World Cup qualification campaign on a winning note.
Firat started his short tenure horribly, the team losing 5-0 to Mali, mostl due to some questionable fielding decisions he made. The team then lost the return fixture 1-0 in Nairobi before drawing with Uganda and beating Rwanda.
“When I came in I didn’t have so much knowledge of players and everything. The first squad we made was difficult because I can only check on the quality of players and not the character. It was a big shock for me. But I said that I am not stupid and I lean from my mistakes,” said the coach.
He says the team drastically improved and his injection of new blood into the squad has made the team better and more dangerous offensively, though he is still worried about the scoring.
Nonetheless, the tactician believes there is so much talent in the country and if given more time, can unearth more talent and take the country higher.
Read the original article on Capital FM.
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