NAIROBI, Kenya, November 14- Harambee Stars head coach, Francis Kimanzi is targeting a home leg win in their first round 2013 Africa Nations Cup qualifier against Togo early next year.
With his team virtually assured of progressing to the group stages of the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, the newly appointed tactician has turned his attentions to Togo in the race to feature at the continental showpiece in South Africa.
Kenya will play Seychelles in Nairobi on Tuesday in the second leg of the 2014 World Cup pre-qualifier with a healthy 3-0 cushion from the away leg before featuring in the regional CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup at the end of the month in Tanzania.
They will then face the Togolese in a double header where the winner will feature in October 2012 second round stage with the victors there sealing their place in South Africa.
“We just missed qualifying for the 2012 edition and the beauty of this is that CECAFA will be a brilliant stage to enhance our team building process. By February, we will be a different team, confidently playing together as a team,” Kimanzi noted.
On the recent decision by Togo to recall Tottenham Hotspur striker Emmanuel Adebayor who had quit the team following a barbaric attack on their team bus on their way for the Angola Nations Cup to the side, the Kenyan coach observed;
“I’m sure they are following our every step. They are taking their inventory well and they will call more players than Adebayor but it’s a game of 90 minutes and we need to take four points from them to knock them out.
“I believe we will be stronger than them in Nairobi and there is no mission impossible for us.”
Meanwhile, the official signing of his contract and the Football Kenya Association (FKA) will be announced soon.
“We have had 14 days that end tomorrow (Tuesday) to go through the contract with my lawyers and I’m satisfied with 90 percent of the details. Proposed changes to the document by both parties are being discussed but I’m confident it will be over,” Kimanzi said.
The tactician who is also handling domestic league side Sofapaka FC was re-appointed to the position he was dismissed from in February 2009 last Tuesday in one of the first acts of the newly elected FKA office.
“All we need from the new office is for them to ensure all the logistics for the team are taken care off and we get all the assistance we require to execute our programme and with this in place, Kenya will be in major tournaments,” Kimanzi urged.
