Football Kenya Federation vice person Doris Petra has cautioned Harambee Starlets regulars that it will not be business as usual as some young prospects angle themselves to fight for slots in the team ahead of the second round of the 2020 Olympic Qualifiers to be staged in Tokyo, Japan.
Doris said the old guards should not be comfortable and think the national team is a reserve for a few players but should instead punch above their weight if they are to keep their slots.
“There will be new faces in the team that will compete in the forthcoming Olympic qualifiers, no doubt about that,” said Petra. Young players are rising every other day and I think the national team slots are not are a reserve for the current players and something will have to give. The regular players should not be comfortable but push themselves in order to safeguard their places.”
Confederation of African Football (CAF), gave Kenya, Nigeria, Cameroon, South Africa, Ghana, Zimbabwe and Equatorial Guinea byes and will therefore enter the qualifiers in the second round that kicks off in September.
“We are thankful that the nation was given a bye and we look forward to start early preparation ahead of the second round,” said Petra. “We want to record good results as we seek to participate in the Olympic Games for the first time in our history.”
In the second round, Kenya will take on the winner between Malawi and Mozambique while South Africa, who saw off Kenya during the last Olympic qualifiers, face the winner between their neighbours Botswana and Namibia.
At the same time, Cameroon will line up against the winner between Uganda and Ethiopia, while, Equatorial Guinea-returning from a ban-will play the winner of the match pitting Tanzania and Democratic Republic Congo. Nigeria take on the winner between Chad and Ghana.