Kenya promise TT torrid time in ‘friendly’

NAIROBI: Trinidad and Tobago’s senior footballers can expect a thunderous ovation in Saturday’s opening friendly encounter of their first official African tour when they come up against Kenya at the Moi International Sporting Complex in Nairobi. This is the indication given by Kenyan Football Federation general secretary Allan Chenane because the visit by TT is the first by any team outside of Africa to this country in 30 years. The last match played by a team outside of  the continent was newly-promoted English team Wolver-hampton Wanderers and Swiss club Grasshoppers FC (0-0 draw) back in 1973. Captain Reynold Carrington and his team arrived in Kenya on Wednesday following a ten-hour stop-over at Heathrow Airport in London. A barrage of media officials greeted the team upon arrival at Nairobi Airport which was closely followed by a well-attended media conference at the Utalii Hotel where the TT team is staying. The occasion gave head coach Stuart Charles-Fevrier, manager George Joseph and Carrington the chance to respond to several questions from reporters who were keen to hear more about TT football.

The names Dwight Yorke and Stern John were quite popular among the locals whose team has among their famous results a 1-1 draw with Nigeria during the 1998 World Cup qualifiers. They also beat South Africa and then Tanzania 3-2 on their way to winning the 2002 Castle Cup. They are currently on the verge of securing a spot in the 2004 African Nations Cup, having already defeated Togo 3-0 and Cape Verde Islands 3-0. Most of the Kenyans ply their trade in Africa excepting midfielder John Muiruri of Belgian First Division side Ghent FC and 17-year-old striker Dennise Oliech who recently signed a two-year contract with Norwegian club Hankam. “We are very thankful to Trinidad and Tobago for giving us this chance for our team to play against them. We have some important African Nations qualifying matches coming up. We know that Trinidad is a strong nation in football,” said Kenyan coach John Mulee who formerly coached in Turkey. He promised TT a tough task on Saturday from the Harambees Stars. Charles-Fevrier conducted a two and half hour training session at the Moi Complex on Tuesday afternoon. The 60,000 capacity venue is expected to be around half-filled according to officials.  Kick off is 11 pm Saturday (TT time). Arriving here today is FIFA vice president Jack Warner.