Football Kenya Federation (FKF) President Nick Mwendwa came under fire from a section of Kenyans after his comments on the quality of Harambee Stars players.Kenyan players were reduced to being spectators at the 2022 Qatar FIFA World Cup after being bundled out of the qualifiers following back to back defeats to Mali.In an interview with NTV on Monday evening, Mwendwa attempted to explain the federation’s decision to opt for a short term coach noting that Mali boasts of a better squad than Kenya. WCQ2022: Talking points from Harambee Stars’ home defeat to Mali”Even if you bring (Jose) Mourinho or (Mikel) Arteta here, the work that needs to be done is we need to bring talent to the table, for you to win you need quality players. Let’s look at Mali, are we better than them? The answer is no because we never brought our players to that level,”Nick Mwendwa: Even if you make Mourinho or Arteta Harambee Stars coach, you need quality players for you to win.#TheGamePlan pic.twitter.com/d5LdioQuNg— NTV Kenya (@ntvkenya) October 11, 2021 “We have built coaches at the lower level, they are building talent that is going to come tomorrow, we looked at it and said we need to have a coach at a high level who can do this in a short term manner, we always wanted a long term coach but for the first time we said it’s the World Cup qualifiers and we needed someone for four games so that we can review his performances,” said Nick.FKF appointed German Turkish head coach Engin Firat on a two-month contract to oversee the rest of the World Cup qualifiers after mutually agreeing to part ways with Jacob Ghost Mulee who registered draws against Uganda and Rwanda in the opening two games.To transform Kenya into a top footballing nation, Mwendwa noted that his administration is training coaches to help develop talents and went on to defend the hiring of Firat on a stop-gap measure. “Do we have a player like Moussa Djenepo but what are we doing to build that player? We have 25 coaches today, having four months of training for the first time in Kenya for our CAF B. We are doing that so that they can find us a Moussa Djenepo or a Bissouma,””If you look at Moldova, I can tell you they don’t have half the talent we have. They went to France and lost 2-1 against a top side, they went to Denmark and drew, they don’t have half the talents we have, we can debate whether he is a top coach or not,” added Mwendwa.A number of Kenyans were unimpressed with Mwendwa’s comments about the quality that Harambee Stars possesses in comparison with other African heavyweights. Nick Mwendwa: Harambee Stars’ new Coach, Firat Engin, is a top coach.Carol Radull: Engin lost 9 out of 11 games in his previous team, how is he a top coach? #TheGamePlan pic.twitter.com/wMjgPeSUlz— NTV Kenya (@ntvkenya) October 11, 2021 “I believe we are not supposed to look for our Djenepo…..it’s like saying we’re looking for our own Ronaldo or Messi…all these players are unique in their own ways…can never be duplicated. I guess that’s where he’s going wrong. We need players to suit our team,” Ndekwe Maramba intimated.Nick Mwendwa has said on national TV that no Kenyan player could match the talent Mali had when Eric Ouma shut out Djenepo in the entire game. Yes, Kenya is still miles away from the kind of talent Mali exhibits, but the federation boss saying that on live Tv was disrespectful— Zachary Oguda (@zaxoguda) October 11, 2021 “Those comments are reckless and if players are watching then it’s bad it might ruin the morale of the players,” noted Cheruiyot Elkanah.Kenya has no talent to compete in serious competitions – Nick Mwendwa. Ladies and gentlemen, that is your president of football speaking.— Ken Odero (@koderoh) October 12, 2021 “Now Nick Mwendwa claims there is no talent in Kenya when we have been thinking that the likes Michael Olunga are ready for EPL. Guys bring back Oliech and Allan Wanga onboard for Uganda and Rwanda games,” said Shynne Kibunga.
