2019 Afcon: East African teams go marching in

Have East African football teams finally come of age to measure up to traditional powerhouses in the continent?

This past week, four East African national football teams qualified for 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) tournament to be played in Egypt from June 21 to July 19.

This is a first for the region. It's the first time since the tournament's inception 62 years ago that four teams from the Council of East and Central Africa Football Association (Cecafa) region, considered Africa’s weakest footballing region in terms of standards of the game, are earning the right to play at the biennial championship at the same time.

The qualified teams are Kenya’s Harambee Stars, Uganda Cranes, Taifa Stars of Tanzania and Burundi’s Swallows. Are Cecafa teams beneficiaries of Caf’s change of rules or have they earned places to compete in the tournament?

With the first two teams in each of the 12 qualifying groups guaranteed qualification following change of rules by Confederation of African Football (Caf) to increase the number of teams in the championship from 16 to 24 this year, Kenya's Harambee Stars qualified for the competition after finishing second in Group ‘F’ on seven points, one behind Ghana and six ahead of Ethiopia.

Caf disqualified Sierra Leone after the fourth round of qualifiers following an Extraordinary Executive Committee meeting in Accra last December. This was occasioned by the West African nation’s suspension from all football activities by the world governing body Fifa, due to government interference.

“We have done our best to compete at this level. We faced several challenges along the way, so this is a fantastic result,” Kenya’s coach Sebastien Migne says.

“It’s a good achievement because for 15-years, we have not competed in this tournament, now we make a comeback and it will be interesting to see how my boys perform against the top teams. We need to prepare well,” the Frenchman, whose team needs Sh244 million to prepare for the competition, added.

A LOT OF MONEY

The team will use a lot of the money in a two-week camp in France.

Did Harambee Stars benefit from change of rules to qualify for the tournament after 15 years? Migne does not think so.

“When I came, my first job was to fix the defence, and went on to keep clean sheet in many games. Until the 83rd minute, we were on a clean sheet against Ghana (last Saturday),” he says, lifting the lid on tough conditions he set that helped Kenya get back on track in the qualifiers after opening the campaign with a 2-1 defeat away to Sierra Leone in June 2017.

First, he asked Football Kenya Federation to ban any player who absconds national team duty, and made it a requirement that any player called up for duty but who has an injury reports to camp for check-up with his recommended medical staff.

Third, he urged fans to embrace the team by painting the stadium red with replica jerseys to create a carnival atmosphere and a winning atmosphere in the team in home matches. This was seen in Kenya’s 3-0 win over Ethiopia in October at Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, when, for the first time, the 60,000-seater facility was filled to capacity.

Migne further called up new players that in the end gave him a stellar performance in the qualifiers. Goalkeeper Patrick Matasi was made the first-choice shot-stopper at the expense of the experienced Boniface Oluoch who played for Kenya against Sierra Leone. The defensive partnership of Musa Mohammed and Joash Onyango kept a clean sheet in Kenya’s 1-0 win over Ghana last September, and Kenya’s chances of qualification became real.

The government’s support cannot be overlooked. The State provided funds that helped the team prepare for the qualifiers, and FKF motivated players by introducing handsome incentives to motivate the players to win matches. However, Tanzanian and Ugandan teams were better motivated and rewarded than the Kenyan squad.

Uganda and Tanzania qualified as first and second respectively in Group 'L', with Lesotho and Cape Verde Islands coming home third and last in the same group.

“I did not expect you to reach this stage following the poor show after you lost to Lesotho. Since then, I have not received any phone call or replied to text messages from the Minister responsible for Sports,” explained an elated Tanzania President John Magufuli, during a meeting to fete the triumphant Taifa Stars players last week.

“I believe you can put in a better performance in Cairo and go on to win that tournament,” added the president. Magufuli gifted each Taifa Stars player and members of the technical bench a piece of land and an equivalent of Sh500,000.

Taifa Stars last featured at Afcon in 1980 in Nigeria but 39 years later, coach Emmanuel Amunike, who was appointed August last year, believes that with better preparations, the team will shine in Egypt.

“We know we are not the title favourites, but that does not mean that we are not capable of doing well in Egypt,” Amunike, 48, said.

Taifa Stars foundation is pegged on a strong youth academy of Azam football club which plays in Tanzania’s Vodacom Premier League. Azam academy nurtured 12 players in Tanzania’s 18-man squad that beat Uganda Cranes 3-0 in the return leg match of their final Group ‘L’ match. Goalkeeper Aishi Manula, Erasto Nyoni, Aggrey Morris, Shaban Iddi Chilunda, Farid Musa, Himid Mao, Michael Gadiel, Yahya Said, John Bocco, Mudathir Yahya, Shomary Kapombe and Mnata Metacha all passed through Azam’s academy.

“The long-term investment in youth programmes is slowly paying off. Our players have the basic techniques,” Majuto Omary who writes for Daily Nation’s sister newspaper The Citizen, noted, adding that a huge fan base and the team’s fighting spirit played a vital role in the team’s historic qualification.

“None of the crop of players had been born the last time Tanzania played in Afcon, and this was the moment everyone was waiting for, hence the fighting spirit on the back of the 12th man,” he added.

For Uganda, the foundation set by Serbian coach Milutin “Micho” Sredejovic played a key role in the team’s qualification campaign led by current coach Sebastien Desabre. The Frenchman retained a chunk of players that broke the 37-year jinx to qualify for the 2017 Afcon in Gabon. South Africa-based shot-stopper Dennis Onyango brought stability in defence, with Nicholas Wadada, Godfrey Walusimbi, Hassan Wasswa and Murushid Jjuuko featuring in a number of qualifiers.

Though Desabre, who secured his first national team job in December 2017, promised flowing football, he still relied on Micho's line-ups and style. It’s Micho who set Uganda on the path of qualification with an important 1-0 victory away to Cape Verde in June 2017 before resigning to join South African giants Orlando Pirates.

The Ugandan government also put in place a Sports Fund that benefited the team, occasionally putting the players on chartered flights to away matches. Uganda Cranes also boasts many sponsors in Betlion, Airtel, Nile Special, Bidco and the National Insurance Company.

“This has been the highest point of my coaching career,” 42-year-old Desabre, who has enjoyed coaching stints with clubs in Cote d'Íviore, Cameroon, Tunisia, Angola, Morocco, Algeria, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, said.

Meanwhile, Burundi pulled off a shocker, reaching Afcon finals for the first time alongside Mali and at the expense of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang-led Gabon in Group ‘C’.

The Swallows are the only team from Cecafa region to have sealed a maiden Afcon ticket with a local coach in 48-year-old Olivier Niyungeko.

“Having a patriotic coach (Niyungeko) who understands his players helped us achieve this historic moment,” Burundi captain Karim Nizigiyimana told Nation Sport. “Most of us play in foreign leagues which partly contributed because we brought in international experience which is vital in such qualifiers.

Furthermore, the love inside the team saw us rely more on teamwork,” added the former Gor Mahia man who currently plays for Vipers in the Ugandan Premier League.

Burundi's triumph has turned tragic for Aubamayang and his team mates as Gabon's government on Thursday announced it had “dissolved” the national team and fired coach Daniel Cousin following the dismal run of form.

The impressive results by East African teams have impressed Cecafa Secretary-General Nicholas Musonye.

“For the first time, the region will have a strong representation at Africa’s premier national team football tournament. Pride of place goes to the four teams for their hard work and commitment in securing their positions. It is a dream of any African to play at Afcon,” explained Musonye.

Amid the celebrations from East Africans, it is important to note that the teams qualified thanks in part to Caf’s decision to expand the biannual sporting extravaganza to include 24 teams, eight more than in previous editions.

Had it been held under the previous rules, only Uganda - which also featured in the 2017 edition in Gabon - would have qualified.

“I still think East African football has come off age,” said former Harambee Stars coach Jacob “Ghost” Mulee who took Kenya to 2004 Afcon in Tunisia.

He added: “I have seen enough to suggest so, most of the teams here are winning their home matches against any side. Kenya beat Ghana at home and Burundi also managed to defeat Mali in Bujumbura. We have big stars from the region playing at the highest level. The introduction of televised matches has also increased scrutiny and eliminated huge chunks of biases, especially in officiating.”

His sentiments were echoed by Stars coach Migne who said: “We will see in the next Afcon some exciting derbies from this region but we need to confirm at this tournament what level we are in football wise.”

Kenya's captain Victor Wanyama who plays for English Premier League team Tottenham Hotspur, and Stoke City's Saido Berahino who opted to represent Burundi in the qualification matches, are some of the big-name players Mulee was referring to.

Aside from the national team, East African clubs have also done well in continental competitions in recent times, with Kenya's Gor Mahia and Tanzania's Simba making it to the quarter-finals of Caf Confederation Cup and Caf Champions League respectively.

Both teams have managed to beat some of the continent's fancied teams. Kenyan champions Gor Mahia for example humbled Egypt's Zamalek 4-2, Algeria's Hussein Dey 2-0, Angola's Petro Atletico 1-0 and Nigeria's Lobi Stars 3-1 in Nairobi. Simba tamed Al Ahly (Egypt) 1-0, Nkana (Zambia) 2-1 and DR Congo’s AS Vita Club 2-1.