Bring on the Stars, Flames coach dare Kenya

Bring on the Stars, Flames coach dare Kenya

Malawi head coach Ronny Van Geneugden expects a tough match from Harambee Stars when the two sides collide from 3pm at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani this afternoon in an international friendly.

In a wide ranging interview with Citizen Digital yesterday before he took his charges through a light work-out at the match venue, Geneugden said that the match will help him gauge his charges ahead of an African Cup of Nations qualifier against Cameroon next month.

Malawi popularly known as “The Flames” lost 0-2 to the Atlas Lions of Morocco last weekend and hopes playing Kenya who were 1-0 winners over Ghana will help them improve on their weak areas.

“I want to thank the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) for this invitation. As a country we really wanted this game because we play a home and away game against Cameroon next month and we wanted to try something new ahead of the tie,” he said

“We played in Morocco (on Saturday) and everyone knows that they are one of the strongest teams in Africa. We had bad luck and the early goal they scored in the game distracted our plans.

“They made it two goals before the break and when we had stabilized things, we were chasing the game. Unfortunately they added a third late on and that made it difficult for us despite my boys giving them a good game,” Geneugden said.

Leweugden-Ronny-Malawi-coach-follows-proceedings-during-his-teams-work-out-at-Kasarani stadium.PHOTO/Courtesy

The Flames coach noted that the win over Ghana gives Kenya more confidence ahead of the clash and is thus expecting a tough clash.

“I played Kenya in my first days as head coach of this team and we managed a draw. It will be a different ball game since the last time I came here the match was staged in another city and they only paraded local based players.

Geneugden was referring to the one-all-draw in the friendly staged at the Kenyatta Stadium Machakos in April last year.

“They (Kenya) are a good team and I know what to expect. They are coming to this on the back of a massive win and that has definitely boosted their morale. Add that to the fact that they are at home in front of their fans and you realize that we will be up against a difficult opponent.”

The Flames coach gave hint that he will be parading his foreign based stars  so as to help his playing unit gel .

Team captain Limbikani Msava said they are ready for the Stars test.

Tags:

kenya Harambee Stars Cameroon International friendly head coach Ronny Van Geneugden Malawi Flames

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