Tusker FC captain Abud Omar and coach Julien Mette believe the club’s progression to the group stage of the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup will be vital for Kenya’s preparation towards next year’s TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations.
Tusker have qualified for the second round after edging out Sudan’s Al Ahli Wad Madani with a 3-2 aggregate score. They will take on Tanzania’s Singida Black Stars in the final preliminary round, where the winner will qualify for the group stages.
Kenya will co-host the TotalEnergies CAF AFCON next year alongside neighbors Tanzania and Uganda, and the duo say Harambee Stars’ dream of doing well will be hugely motivated by a Kenyan team playing in the group phase of Continental club competition.
“It would be great because qualifying for the group stage will expose a lot of our players to the high level. Last season Nairobi United qualified, and now they are ranked among the top 100 clubs in Africa. That shows how much it can boost not only the club but also our league. It will be a platform for everyone to see that Kenya also produces top players,” said captain Omar, who skippered Kenya to the quarter final of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) in Nairobi last year.
Since Gor Mahia in 2018, Nairobi United became the first team to make the group stage of Continental club football last season. Tusker, who reached the final of the CAF Cup Winners Cup in 1994, want to emulate them.
Coach Mette, who has previously coached the Djibouti national team believes Kenya’s good performance at the AFCON next year will be boosted if a local club is exposed to high level competition.
“Tusker playing in the group stage means that many Kenyan players will play at least six high level competitive Continental games and they will gain more experience. This experience will help them to improve their level and in turn this also improves the national team. If you add on the players who play in Europe and their experience, this will impact the national team positively,” noted Frenchman Mette.
Tusker will be Kenya’s sole Continental representatives, with league champions Gor Mahia having been eliminated following a heavy 7-1 aggregate loss to Egyptian side Pyramids FC in the Champions League.
Five teams from next year’s AFCON host nations have made it to the second preliminary round of both the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup. Tanzanian giants Simba SC and Young Africans SC will compete in the CAF Champions League, Simba playing either Equatorial Guinea’s 15 de Agosto or Comoros side Fomboni while Yanga take on Madagascar’s CFFA.
In the CAF Confederation Cup, Tusker and Singida face off meaning at least one country will have a representative in the group stage, while Uganda’s Kitara have been handed a tough draw against Egyptian giants Al Ahly.
SOURCE: CAF ONLINE
