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Federation impressed by team's showing against Qatar in Doha.
Harambee Stars could play a friendly match against one of the top ranked football teams in the world sooner rather than later.
This is according to Turkish head coach Engin Firat, who revealed that his dream is to have Kenya play “of the biggest teams in the world” sometime next year.
There have been reports that have suggested that Kenya could soon play against Firat’s home country Turkey owing to his relationship with the country’s federation.
The dream could turn into a reality if all the right conditions are set in place. Speaking to the press following Stars’ loss to South Sudan, Firat explained that it was his influence that enabled the side to play friendly matches against Iran and Qatar this year.
12:45 - 14.09.2023
FKFPL: Industrious Kahiro battling hard to maintain momentum after splendid outing against AFC Leopards
The lanky striker hopes to find consistent game time this season after being given the nod to start against AFC Leopards as they won 1-0, which will enable him to find consistency.
October’s friendly matches are yet to be confirmed, but there is a chance Kenya will play two more games then.
However, he stressed that “too much responsibility” has been placed on his shoulders to organize such games.
“It is not confirmed, I try my best to push for one good game more, but I have to say that at this point, I feel a little bit alone because I feel a bit like everything is on my shoulders,” Firat said.
“Remember in the last press conference when I asked about something which has to change, for example, the travel with Qatar, for me more important than the game was that the FKF and the players get the vision about what is possible in football.
“About infrastructure, organization and all these things. You know, the players after the match said ‘we want to play here’ so, we have to understand that many things are missing here.
“ We have to go on. There are also many things that have to go on and we have to open (up) internationally. It can’t be that I am not even Kenyan and I have to organize everything and there is never a Kenyan involved so I am saying this not because I do not want, but because it cannot be on my shoulder everything.”
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08:00 - 13.09.2023
FOOTBALL: Eight lessons learned from Harambee Stars' defeat to South Sudan
The loss saw South Sudan register their maiden win over Kenya since attaining independence back in 2011
Firat wants Harambee Stars to get as much exposure as possible against high quality opposition as it will give the players much needed exposure in their quest to prepare themselves for the World Cup qualifiers that will commence in November.
“I push for it and I know in your history that you never play these kind of friendly matches because you also like to talk too much about it therefore I say it again that we will continue with this.
“I have a big dream and my big dream is that for next year, to get one of the biggest in the world. I will push for it until the last moment that we have that Kenya can one day play one of the biggest teams in the world.”
Firat, who has created a reputation for wearing his heart on his sleeve on matters related to Kenyan football, has explained in detail how he managed to organize the side’s friendly match against Qatar.
“This is what I want but like I said, things are not going on only because I do it because I also have to complain about things. I will explain something to you.
“I organized Iran, this was not a problem, but Qatar, you cannot organize by phone even if I have alot of friends. I took our team manager, I took one friend more, so we went there to the general secretary and I have friends. So, who do you think paid everything? It is always me. I never get any salary and pay even from my pocket and yet I have no right to say anything.”
07:00 - 13.09.2023
Harambee Stars player ratings: Muguna fluffs his lines, Olunga squanders chances
Boos roared all over Kasarani at fulltime as fans were devastated by Harambee Stars 1-0 loss to South Sudan. So how did the players perform individually?
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