The men’s national football team Harambee Stars will play Mauritius, Djibouti and Pakistan in a four-team friendly tournament that will take place during the upcoming FIFA international window set for 12-20 June, Mozzart Sport can officially confirm.In an exclusive interview, the national team’s head coach Engin Firat confirmed the upcoming four team tourney that will see the Harambee Stars get three more matches following their game against Iran back in March which marked the team’s first taste of action since November 2021 after their FIFA suspension was lifted.While confirming the participants in the tournament, Firat revealed they did their best to secure some games at home but opponents were not willing to play in the country.Harambee Stars is in the process of confirming their participation in a four-team friendly tournament expected to take place during the upcoming FIFA international window set for 12-20 June.Expected to face Mauritius, Djibouti and Pakistan.#HarambeeStars pic.twitter.com/RLZC93NG95— Ochieng’ Stephen (@soo_ochieng) May 19, 2023 An opportunity to travel to Mauritius then presented itself and they gladly took it to help the team kickstart its preparations for the 2026 African World Cup qualifiers which kick off in November 2023.The head coach also expressed his delight in playing the three games which he believes will give him enough room to try out young and inexperienced players who never got a chance to feature against Iran.“Djibouti, Pakistan and Mauritius have confirmed their participation and the reason why we are going to the tournament is very simple. Normally, we want to play at home but it was not possible because nobody wanted to come here. We pushed till the last minute but it was not possible,” he told Mozzart Sport.ExclusiveHarambee Stars to play Mauritius, Djibouti and Pakistan in a four team friendly in the June international window, head coach Engin Firat confirms#HarambeeStars pic.twitter.com/zNYICjBqjH— Ochieng’ Stephen (@soo_ochieng) May 21, 2023 “We then had a last-minute opportunity with this tournament which is in the end good for us because I will then have three matches where I can give a lot of players a chance. Last time against Iran it was not so easy to let very young and inexperienced players to play, therefore, I think the tournament is a good opportunity for us,” he added.According to the coach, Kenya will play the first game on 12 June, a time where many experienced players will still be with their clubs and therefore new players will get a chance to showcase what they can bring to the team.“We will play our first match on 12 June and many of our players will still be in Europe Asia which means they will not be available therefore we will try new players and check them out because our target is to prepare for the World Cup qualifiers so we need to check all players who can bring whatever,” he noted.##NAJAVA_MECA_7268627##The head coach, who has been continuing to watch local matches across all leagues in the country, noted that his primary goal at the moment is to unearth talents for the national team at a young age who will help the country in the continued quest to grace major footballing tournaments.“Generally, I try to go everywhere. I even go to the second division league matches where I am alone and there is no one else including the media.Our job alongside Ken Odhiambo (assistant coach) is trying to find wherever we can see something because it is true that we have potential in the country but the problem is that we find the talents too late.💬 | “I am happy with how we played. It was unlucky that we lost, but we have a long-term goal, and we still have a lot of work to do to get where we need to be, so we must maintain our focus,” ~ Coach Engin Firat. #WeAreBack pic.twitter.com/B1LwzkXCQU— Harambee Stars (@Harambee__Stars) March 29, 2023 And in that age, it becomes very difficult to develop them and to bring them to the international level. So, one of our projects for sure is finding talents very early and at a young age where we have an opportunity to bring them to the next level,” he concluded.According to the last FIFA rankings, Kenya, in position 102, are the best in the quartet. Mauritius are in position 180, Djibouti are in position 193 and Pakistan occupy position 195.
