When the draw for the 2014 world cup qualifiers was conducted on the 30th of July 2011, the Kenya national soccer team was among a group of 24 lowly ranked teams in the continent set to face it out before joining a group stages for a chance to taste glory in Brazil. The stars ranked 130th in the latest FIFA rankings are set to square it out with the tiny Indian ocean island of Seychelles’ known better for its tourism than for its football prowess. The stars should have an easy task advancing into the group stages if Seychelles’’ current placing in the rankings 197 is anything to go by. However in football anything is bound to happen and for this reason the stakeholders should ensure the team prepares enough in time for the 11th of November clash away before a return fixture in Nairobi four days later.

If the stars cross the Seychelles hurdle they will join Nigeria, Malawi and the winner of the tie between Namibia and Djibouti in group F to fight it out for first place. The winner of the group will join nine other group winners in five two legged ties with the winners representing Africa in the 2014 FIFA world cup. Nigeria and Malawi who are ranked higher than Kenya pose the biggest threat at that stage. In the recent past Nigeria has proven to be our perennial rival when it comes to world cup qualification each time the super eagles flying above our stars. The latest being the 3-2 defeat at the hands of the West Africans in Nairobi during the qualifications for the 2010 world cup. There are lots of positives that the current national team can build on from that encounter and possibly take us all the way to Rio bearing in mind the fact that we were leading only for our defensive frailties to let us down.

The stars have a good chance of making it through to face off with the big boys of African football for a chance to play in Brazil .However that will only happen if preparations start early.

References:
Super eagles in Harambee Stars’ way, Daily Nation, 2nd August2011
Kenya 2 Nigeria 3: match report, The Telegraph, 14th Nov 2009
Road to Brazil, standardmedia, 2nd August 2011