Gor Mahia striker Jacques Tuyisenge celebrates after scoring Gor’s lone goal against Petro Atletico during their CAF Confederations Cup Group D match at the Kasarani Stadium on March 17, 2019. PHOTO/Raymond Makhaya
NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 13 – The final batch of Gor Mahia players and technical bench members finally departed Nairobi for Morocco on Saturday morning after a whole night of uncertainty whether they would travel or not for their CAF Confederations Cup return leg tie against RS Berkane on Sunday.
Gor had been at the airport on Thursday but only a small group that included nine players and a few officials managed to travel with the rest left to ponder on a last minute search for flights.
The final group that included 11 players and the technical bench members finally left Nairobi for Morocco via Doha at 10am Saturday morning and as it looks, they might just walk in straight to the match set for Sunday night in Berkane.
The team left for a six hour flight to Doha from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, meaning they will land in the Qatari capital at approximately 4pm EAT. The team will then have a nine-hour lay-over before departing for Marrakech.
This means they depart the Hamad International Airport in Doha at approximately 1am for another 10 hour flight to Marrakech. From Marrakech, they will connect to Berkane, 848km away.
“It is tough on us as players because of this arrangement. We will not have time to rest well before the game but we will go in and battle. I think there should be better planning next time because this is a crucial match,” one of the players who sought anonymity told Capital Sport.
Gor Mahia’s Kenneth Muguna goes down under pressure from RS Berkane’s Amine El Kess during their CAF Confederations Cup quarter final tie at the Moi Sports Centre Kasarani on April 7, 2019. PHOTO/Timothy Olobulu
Once again, Gor find themselves with the tide against them as they look to overturn a 2-0 defeat at home last weekend.
Before the first leg, Gor was similarly embroiled in troubles with the players refusing to train two days to the game due to unpaid allowances and they had to be convinced to come to the stadium in the morning of the match.
With this obstacles now going their way, Gor are psychologically bombarded as they look to go in and score three goals to tilt the tie in their favor.
But, despite that, head coach Hassan Oktay who will be back in the touchline remained confident they can overturn. “We can’t give up. I don’t give up. That’s part of my philosophy. We will go there and fight and see if we can get a good result,” the tactician stated.
While Oktay and skipper Harun Shakava will be returning from their one game suspensions, the side will still be without Jacques Tuyisenge, Ernest Wendo and Shafik Batambuze who are serving one more ban.
