Break my record, Ambani challenges KPL strikers

Former Harambee Stars ace Boniface Ambani has challenged Kenya Premier League strikers to pull up their socks and break his long-standing record of 26 goals scored in a single season.

Ambani shares the feat with ex-Gor Mahia great, Maurice ‘Sonyi’ Ochieng, who equally plundered 26 goals in the historic 1976 season when K’Ogalo won the league title unbeaten for the first time, under Allan Thigo, as player-coach.

For Ambani, the feat was attained in 2006 while turning out for Tusker and today, no player has come close to challenging the towering record.

In recent times, former Tusker and AFC Leopards striker Allan Wanga is the only player who has come close to challenge the record, notching in 23 league goals in his debut season in KPL, in 2007, while turning out for the Ruaraka based giants.

At the same time, Ambani has hailed Jesse Were and Michael Olunga’s inputs in the 2016 season though they fell short in breaking the record; scoring 21 and 17 league goals respectively.

Ambani said:  “As a striker, you need to work-work; have your own extra training session apart from the team training. The coach only gives you 30 percent, the rest, 70 percent, is up to you.”

When asked if he foresees the record being broken, soon, Ambani said: “They have to work extra hard because in the recent years it’s been hard for the top-scorers to hit the 20-goal mark.”

In his heydays, Ambani won four golden boot awards with different clubs – in 2002 at Oserian(16 goals) , 2005 (Kenya Pipeline 18 goals),2006 with Tusker before crossing eth border to Tanzania where he attained a similar feat with Yanga SC banging 24goals.

The outspoken Ambani also waded into the politics that had marred the Kenyan league, claiming that the league body is finding it hard to lure sponsors owing to corruption within its ranks

“The people who run KPL don’t run it in a right way because KPL itself is a fraud. Sponsors want to see books of accounts being clean… but our systems are very corrupt. That’s why we find it hard to get sponsors.”

Ambani was in Leopards squad which won the league title in 1998.