Onduparaka seeking to earn Gor Mahia respect
Fans favourite. Onduparaka assistant coach Livingstone Mbabazi (C), a former Cranes international, directs traffic during a warm up session in Arua last year. PHOTO BY AMINAH BABIRYE
What you need to know:
- Soccer. While Gor Mahia are preparing for the start of the Kenya Premier League season, Onduparaka will use the game to test their new recruits ahead of second round opening tie.
KAMPALA.
In terms of history, there are few clubs that match up to Gor Mahia’s achievements in the Cecafa region.
The 15-time Kenyan league champions are the only club in the Cecafa region to have won a continental title after edging Tunisia’s Esperance to the 1987 African Cup Winners’ Cup.
The club also boasts of some of the biggest attendances in the region since clinching their first league title in 18 years back in 2013.
“They are hugely successful and we have plenty of things to learn from them,” Onduparaka club patron and Ayivu County Member of Parliament Bernard Atiku stated in a press conference last week.
High profile
Today, his team will get a chance to pit their wits against the Kenyan side at Mandela National Stadium, Namboole in a high profile friendly game aimed at fine tuning both sides ahead of their respective upcoming league engagements.
While Gor Mahia are preparing for the start of the Kenya Premier League (KPL) season, their hosts will use the game to test their new recruits ahead of Wednesday’s opening second round game against Proline.
Isma Babu (Seychelles), Geoffrey Lwo and Fahad Toko were added onto the team that completed the first round in an impressive third position.
The recruitment of Toko should particularly raise the volume of the usually boisterous club fans that have made the Betway Greenlight Stadium in Arua a fortress since earning promotion.
Star forward
The striker is expected to lessen the goal scoring burden on star forward Muhammad Shaban, who plundered half of the team’s 16 first round league goals.
Gor Mahia should prove more than worthy opponents having named a very experienced squad.
In their ranks is Godfrey Walusimbi, who impressed for the Cranes as left back on their return to Africa Cup of Nations as well as Ugandan born Rwanda forward Meddie Kagere.
The team also includes two Rwandan internationals Jacques Tuyisenge and Jean Baptiste Mugiraneza together with 2016 KPL Most Valuable Player Kenneth Muguna.
TODAY AT NAMBOOLE STADIUM
International Club Friendly
Onduparaka vs. Gor Mahia, 4pm
