Harambee Stars coach Engin Firat has admitted that he has ‘no time to complain and cry’ after, being forced to linger about the availability of two of his dependable players in the national team provisional squad set to test it out against Pakistan and Mauritius in the Four Nations Tournament, scheduled for June 11th to June 18th, 2023.Due to differing player injuries, Firat will be keen to find out about the health status of Joseph Okumu and Masud Juma who,are doubtful for the national team assignment.##NAJAVA_MECA_7312201##“I have no time to complain or cry. That’s not my way,” Firat said in response to the significant player injuries. “Of course we lost a lot of experience and important players which has a great effect on the team but it doesn’t matter. We have to go on,” he said.Also mentioned by the tactician was Mamelodi Sundowns defender Brian Mandela, who missed entirely from the 30-man provisional squad announced on 29 May due to injury.Mandela, as per his team communication, suffered a back injury late April and was shut down for the rest of the season that, culminated in a Premiership league triumph and a CAF Champions League semifinal exit to Wydad AC.Groups for 2023 FIBA Women’s AfroBasket tournament revealedOkumu, on the other hand, has been uninvolved from his side KAA Gent for the last four matches leading up to the end of the season last weekend.“The others have to take responsibility and take the team forward,” Firat said of the expectations from the rest of the team members in the camp.Asked if he would cut down the team from the initial 30, Firat mentioned that he had the idea of ‘giving all players a chance’ and for them to ‘show their potential.’The current squad debutants include Moses Shumah (Kakamega Homeboyz), Simon Masaka (Sofapaka), Charles Ouma (Kenya Police) and Kevin Luke Otiala (Kariobangi Sharks).Firat working with new Harambee Stars technical bench“The squad announced will not change, they will all travel,” Firat said. “As I said, I will not complain. This is me giving them a chance to show that they can be relied upon when it comes to the big matches.”In confirmed reports early Saturday however, Kenya’s scheduled trip to Mauritius set for Saturday was postponed till Monday 13th June after communication from the federation indicated ‘unavailability of flights to Mauritius’ as the reason for the hitch.Kenya will now, instead of three matches, play twice against Pakistan (Wednesday) and Mauritius (18 June) before turning their focus on a bigger target – 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, set to kick off between November 13 and November 21, 2023.
