Zanzibar Heroes must go gung ho

Zanzibar Heroes soccer team’s prowess will be tested to the limits as they face hosts Kenya in the final Group A match of the Central and East Africa Football Associations’ Senior Challenge Cup championship to be played at the Afraha Stadium in Nakuru later this evening.

With three points collected after breezing past South Sudan during the tournament’s opener on Wednesday last week, the only option for the Isles team to avoid booking an early flight home is to post a victory or at least to salvage a draw.

The big hurdle that awaits Zanzibar Heroes is to shrug off intimidation from the host nation’s fans who are expected to turn out in big numbers at Nakuru’s Afraha Stadium today.

Unlike the Nyayo Stadium in Nairobi where fans shun CECAFA matches, the atmosphere is expected to change in Nakuru owing to the fact that the centrally-located city will be hosting CECAFA matches for the first time in history.

Harambee Stars, as the Kenyan national soccer team is always known, will for sure embark on attack right from the kick off to demoralize the visiting Zanzibar side.

Winning the match for Kenya is a top priority so as to secure a relatively weak opponent in the scheduled quarter-final matches slated for Mombasa this weekend.

Isles’ Coach Salum Bausi will either be perceived as a hero or villain by home fans in Zanzibar depending on the performance of his boys in today’s crucial encounter.

The teams battled to goalless draw in Kampala last year before Kenya made it to the finals after tense shootout at Namboole Stadium.

However, much has changed in the Isles side that features in this tourney.
Bausi gambled to downplay the inclusion of experienced players in the likes of Nadir Haroub, Hamis Mcha, Nassor Masoud and goalkeeper Mwadini Ali who would have been useful to boost the team’s display during the tournament.

Zanzibar are really up against the high-amplitude tidal wave and have to be resurgent enough to pull a lifeline in the tourney involving twelve teams.

While Zanzibar are up against the hosts, Ethiopia, who also have the same number of points like the hosts, four, are lined up against the Group A’s weakest side South Sudan, already out of contention for the title after conceding two group stage defeats in a row.

South Sudan, who lost their second game to Kenya by a lone goal last Saturday, will be playing the game as a formality while weighing their chances for next year’s Challenge Cup tournament edition.

With identical statistics for both Kenya and Ethiopia, either side stands a chance to finish on top of the Group A standings ahead of the quarter-final clashes.