A look at Gor Mahia’s opponents in the CECAFA club cup

Gor Mahia will be returning to the CECAFA club cup, aka Kagame cup after a long hiatus. Gor Mahia has a proud record in this tournament having won it three times (1980, 1981 and 1985). However the last time they participated was in 1996 when the tournament was held in Tanzania. On that occasion, Gor Mahia started brilliantly and topped their group after drawing 1-1 with hosts Yanga and beating Express of Uganda 3-1 before being awarded a walk-over in their last game. However they lost to hosts Simba 0-1 in the semis. They ended the tournament by beating Yanga 4-0 for the third place.

They return after eighteen years eager to make a mark in a tournament that made players like club legend and current assistant coach Bobby Ogolla a famous all over East and Central Africa. There was a time this tournament and the senior challenge cup was followed with as much fervour as the world cup. And that is not a an exaggeration. And since none of the matches were transmitted on television, everyone followed Bobby’ and the rest of the team’s heroics on radio.

In 2014, Gor Mahia have been placed in group B where they will be pitted against Kampala City Council of Uganda, APR of Rwanda and Flambeu d est of Burundi in what looks like a difficult group that has no pushovers.

Kampala City Council

KCC have won the Ugandan national league 9 times, the latest being the 2012-2013 season. The squad is composed entirely of Ugandans including national team players Hassan Wasswa,  and Brian Majwega. As of 2014, they lead the Ugandan league by one point.

In the 2014 Africa Champions league, they scored an upset when they eliminated a strong Al Merreikh side from Sudan 3-2 on aggregate after having shockingly won the 1st leg 2-0 in Sudan. In the second round they narrowly lost 4-3 to Nkana FC.

A memorable encounter between Gor Mahia and KCC came in the opening match of the 1984 edition of the CECAFA club cup. On that occassion, KCC surprised everyone at Nyayo Stadium by taking the lead in the 29th minute via Joseph Ssekito. Gor Mahia looked destined for defeat until late in the game when substyitute and former Ugandan international Abbey Nassur made a menacing run into the KCC penalty box before being felled. New signing George Onyango Fundi slotted home the resulting penalty to salvage a 1-1 draw. This period of the late 1970s to the early 1980s was the golden era for KCC when the greatets Ugandan players ever : Philip Omondi, Davis Kamoga and Jimmy Kirunda played for them. Like Kenya Breweries in Kenya, they attracted the top players by offering them employment at the City council.

KCC coach George Nseimbe recently declared that he is confident of beating Gor Mahia. “I believe our group is tough but Gor Mahia is not a problem to me. I have been watching the Kenyan league on TV and I know how to confront them. APR is the problem because you know clubs have evolved their approach to playing,” Nsimbe said.

Perhap’s Nsimbe’s confidence stems from the fact that they won the Mapinduzi cup in January. But they did not just win. They thrashed AFC Leopards 3-0, beat Tusker on penalties before beating Simba 1-0 in the final. Now keep in mind that not only were Simba the hosts but they were also coached by Zdravko Logarusic.

APR (Armée Patriotique Rwandaise)

They need no introduction to this generation of Gor Mahia fans. It was they who beat a Gor Mahia team laden with schoolboys and recent school leavers by a score 0f 5-0 at Nyayo stadium. The two players left from that squad are Jerim Onyango and George Odhiambo. Nevertheless Gor Mahia will be gunning for a measure of revenge.

There last outing in the Africa champions league was in 2013 when they lost to Vital O of Burundi in the preliminary round. The very same Vital O side beat them in the CECAFA cup finals held in Sudan after APR had upset hosts Al Merreikh of Sudan.

APR will be the most formidable opponent that Gor Mahia will face given their home ground advantage. But APR have a quality side. They have at least 10 players who have played for the national team within the last 2 years. Despite their short history, they are Rwanda’s leading football club having won 14 Rwandan league titles, all since 1995, the Rwandan Cup seven times and the CECAFA Clubs Cup in 2004, 2007 and 2010.

APR are also on a high having won the Rwandese league in May and the Peace cup  2 weeks ago. Striker Michael Ndahinduka who scored the winning goal in the Peace cup is one player Gor Mahia has to watch out for.

Flambeau de l’est

Their name means “Beacon of the East”. They won the Burundian league by a 3 point margin. They are among the least experienced side in the tournament. They have only played in a CAF tournaments once in 2014. In the preliminary round, they beat Diables Noirs of Congo Brazaville 2-1 on aggregate before losing 5-1 to Coton Sport of Cameroun in the 1st round.

Despite winning the Burundian league, they have only one player in the national team, that is goalkeeper Arthur Arakaza. The Burundi national team eliminated Harambee stars from the CHAN tournament in 2013. And Burundian teams have always proven a tough nut to crack for Kenyan teams.

The 2013 edition of the cup was won by a Burundian side Vital O who beat APR 2-0 in the final.

Though Gor Mahia have not played Flambeau de l’est, they have played Burundian teams before, most notably Vital O in the 1983 Africa cup winners cup. On that occasion, a player mutiny saw Gor Mahia lose the second leg in Nairobi 0-3 after having won the 1st leg in Bujumbura 2-1 with goals from current assistant coach Bobby Ogolla who scored from a direct free-kick and a second goal by striker Abdallah Shebe.

The Tournament

The event scheduled between; August 8 – 24 will be hosted at Amahoro stadium in Kigali and Kigali Regional stadium in Nyamirambo.

The full fixtures of the event were not released but will soon be communicated.

Rwandese president Paul Kagame, who is also patron of CECAFA, has sponsored the regional club championship to a tune of US$60,000 in cash prize annually since 2002. A further $15,000 has also been channeled into the organisation of the event. The winner of the championship will bag $ 30,000 while runners up and third placed team will smile away with $ 20,000 and $ 10,000 respectively.

Supersport, the long time Cecafa partners is one of the sponsors and will show all the matches live.

It will be a tough tournament with several good teams. Gor Mahia will be eager to put on a good performance since they have not been able to shine in continental tournaments.