People aim for the stars so that at least they can hit the clouds (which are not light years away like the stars). Stars shine bright in the dark and twinkle too.
That is why outstanding individuals like my all time favorite basketball player Michael Jordan are referred to as stars, super-stars even. Groups of people can also be referred to as stars - the group of soccer players under former Real coach del Bosque, whom my fellow blogger Redondo so admires.
Stars occasionally do mistakes - after all they are human. But a lack of focus should not be excused twice in a game, as was the case for Harambee stars yesterday in Conakry, Guinea.
Guinea's second and third goals were as a result of poor defending from set piece plays, and considering the height advantage that the Stars players had, especially at the back, this should not have happened. Good defenders (Gallas please note well) attack the ball at the first opportunity, but yesterday costly mistakes were made, and were not helped by the perceived lack of height of the Stars goalie. He made some crucial saves.
There's loads of potential, and Kimanzi has done very well in bringing the team to this stage - considering that he has to juggle national and club duties - which means that he can't go around the country (and outside?) looking at current and potential players. Continuity is a good thing and it would be great if he actually had a solid contract, and a free hand to imprint his coaching style on the team. However Kenya has an abundance of self important individuals who think they know everything and not to mention have an affinity for the quick buck. Soccer management - or the lack of it - is still a big problem in Kenya.
Now let's wait while gnawing on our nails to see if the 'mathematics' actually get implemented. I, for one need to go to Kasarani soon..
Update: Kenya Qualified
12 group winners
Cameroon
Guinea
Benin
Nigeria
Ghana
Algeria
Côte d'Ivoire
Morocco
Burkina Faso
Mali
Zambia
Egypt
8 runners-up
Rwanda (Group 8)
Tunisia (Group 9)
Kenya (Group 2)
Togo (Group 11)
Gabon (Group 5)
Sudan (Group 10)
Malawi (Group 12)
Mozambique (Group 7) *
Now the team I do not want to meet is Egypt.. Zaki et al..
So five groups of four teams. I wonder what would be the most favourable to Kenya, at least on paper...
1 comment:
I was unfortunate to have only watched the 2nd half of the match.I got the fixture kick off time wrong. It was not nice watching our local boys loosing to Guinea but nonetheless I was impressed by the fighting spirit that they exhibited, rallying back to snatch two late goals. We will need more of that spirit as we advance into the next stage.
I am not under any illusions that the stars will qualify for the world cup. In fact I don't want them to qualify lest we become the whipping boys at SA 2010. All I want is for our team to qualify for the Nations cup and make a good showing there. A semifinals place would be enough to please me
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