NAIROBI, Kenya, June 16, 2025 – National men’s hockey team skipper Ivan Ludiali is ready to lead from the front as they battle for glory at the African Cup of Nations in October this year.
Ludiali believes the experience he has garnered over the years will come in handy to inspire his teammates.
“Of course, I have a leadership role in the team. The experience we gain, we are supposed to bring it to the national team to help us win. We also have a young squad from the under 21s who will be integrated into the team. I want to be there for them and help them gel into the team and get the best results,” the Western Jaguar midfielder said.
The skipper is part of a 35-man squad that has reported to the City Park Stadium, Nairobi, in preparation for the continental showpiece – set for October 11-18 in Ismailia, Egypt.
Ludiali also says the training period will be a great opportunity for him to improve on his art and craft.
“Personally, I think I need to improve more on my goalscoring. Of course, I am a midfielder and I need to optimise my physical levels…moving up and down the field. So, I am looking to get better on my physical conditioning,” he said.
As per his expectations for the tourney, Ludiali is under no illusions over the calibre of challenge that awaits them.
However, it is one that he relishes.
“The African Cup is quite tough. We have several competitors like South Africa…they are a big name…Egypt…Nigeria, who have come up very well. Yeah, we know them…their level…so now we are just working on ourselves to improve,” the skipper observed.
The team have been going through their paces under Michael Malungu and Ludiali is excited by what he has observed in the one week of training.
“It is still early but we are good. We are happy to be back together because it has been quite a while. We have been playing with our clubs but now we are together…back to being teammates rather than enemies at club level. The mood is quite great,” he said.
The team’s last piece of competitive action was at the African Games in March last year in Accra where they finished fourth after losing 2-1 to Nigeria in the bronze medal match.
