Abondo still positive as Glay faces Adebayor
Gor Mahia attacking midfielder Ali Abondo has been having a sensational season. He leads the entire country in scoring when all competitions are taken into account. He was widely expected by some to make his national team debut. However after having been initially named to the squad, he was left out by coach Bobby Williamson along with other Gor Mahia players like Haron Shakava.
“This is my best season so far and I have been working hard. I was happy to earn a call up to the national team. It was due to the commitment I have put in training so far this season,” he said to supersport.
Abondo is not dissapointed but will use this as motivation to work hard on the aspects of his game that need to improve before coach Williamson makes him part of the final squad.
“True, I was disappointed to be dropped, but I am happy I was picked in the first place. All I can say is I wish the team the best in the game on Sunday and we will be supporting them to victory,” he said.
“Being in a squad is the prerogative of the coach. He decides who should play and who should not depending on how he wants to tackle the game. I thank him for calling me, it was a great experience training with local and foreign based players. My mission is to work harder to make the cut next time.” he added.
Part of the reason Abondo was left out is likely because the coach was intent on deploying a defensive formation and he already had enough attacking midfielders in the side namely Wafula, Were and Timbe.
A second issue is that for many years Abondo has been an average nondescript player in the league and many are still not convinced that his latest performance is not a fluke. Which mean Abondo will need to continue churning out good performances. The next match is against Zambia. In this game, coach Williamson will have no choice but to deploy an attacking formation. He will need midfielders who can put the ball in the net. If there are 20 minutes left and Harambee stars are attacking incessantly but cannot score, Abondo will be your man.
Abondo could also feature in the CHAN qualifiers which will come sooner.
Khalid Aucho And Walusimbi in action
Two Gor Mahia players Aucho and Walusimbi continued to gain valuable international experience when they played for the Uganda Cranes who beat Botswana 2-0 in their opening match.
Walusimbi who previosuly played at full back but was switched to midfield at Gor Mahia was deployed in his new position by the Cranes.
He was awarded aplayer rating of 6.0 by Kawowo sports. This is his player rating narrative: He was played in midfield and missed a glorious opportunity in the first half when he missed a tap in from a Massa pass. Substituted at half time for Robert Ssentongo.
Aucho for his part was awarded a player rating of 6.5. This is his rating narrative: Like most players, he had a low performance in the first half. His passing improved in the second half and won a number tackles in the centre of the field.
Luwagga Kizito who plays in the Portuguese second tier was voted man of the match with two assists.
Aucho was described as indefatigable by the Uganda Monitor who indicates that he played a key role in Uganda’s second goal. As he does at Gor Mahia, he won a loose ball, shrugging off three opponents before finding Luwagga who in turn found Brian Umony for the second goal.
Sibomana with solid defensive performance
In Maputo Mozambique, Rwanda escaped with a 1-0 win. This is Rwanda’s first away win in AFCON qualifying since 2011. Having scored as early as the second minute, Rwanda doggedly defended against the marauding Mozambique attackers.
“From that point [after the goal], we had about 92 minutes of the game still to go including three possible minutes of stoppage time, 92 minutes of defending and keeping Mozambique out was always going to be tough but the boys did extremely well.” said Rwanda coach John McKinstry.
A key to Rwanda’s defensive solidity was Gor Mahia full back Abouba Sibomana who held the Mozambicans in check.
Dirkir Glay faces tall order against Adebayor
For Dirkir Glay, it was always going to be difficult to play against Togo. Firstly, he was making his national tema debut with players he has not played with. And secondly they were playing away against Togo and against premier league striker Emmanuel Adebayor, a player who has a lot to prove. To begin with, he had not been getting playing time in the premier league. He was recently given time off to address his personal family drama. And the Togo coach recently dispossessed him of the captain’s armband.
Glay was deployed in central defence by coach James Debbeh and along with his team-mates given the mammoth task of stopping Adebayor. He was able to keep Adebayor at bay for 88 minutes before Adebayor finally scored. In the end Togo prevailed 2-1.
Earlier on Tuesday, Glay was in a injury scare when he collided with Belgium based team-mate Samii Johnson. But he apparently recovered on time for the match. Samii Johnson did not recover in time for the match.
Liberia coach James Debbeh was in the Liberia squad that lost to Kenya 1-0 in 1989 with Goerge Onyango “Fundi” scoring the winner.
Good experience
All in all , Gor mahia earned useful big game experience, playing against hostile crowds, formidable players or for demanding crowds. This experience will be useful to the club as the club tries to defend its league title. Players with big game temperament are unlikely to crumble under pressure should the club start dropping points.
Goalkeeper Boniface Oluoch who many say was unstable will also have learned some valuable listens he can apply. He was unstable in goal and committed himself wrongly on a number of occasions which nearly cost Harambee Stars. This is one area the team needs to improve on,” said supersport technical analyst Jacob Ghost Mulee.
Collins Okoth was selected ahead of Anthony Akumu and was deployed in the defensive midfield position alongside Victor Wanyama. Okoth was clearly under instructions to stay at home so he hardly ventured forward. He put in numerous important tackles.
And of course this experience will be most useful when Gor Mahia plays in the upcoming CECAFA cup where Gor Mahia will likely play against hostile crowds.
Admin. Put the correct matching pictures. Note Dikir glay and I doubt if their is Abouba anywhere. Otherwise good content.
Sibamana has Jessey number 3 standing second from right !!!
Yep that is Sibomana @ 3. And that is Dirkir Glay. Papa anza kwenda stadium ndio ujue ma players. Hiyo ya sofaset uwache.
Yeah!at kogalo evrythng is posible. all kogalo first eleven waliitwa national team cll. continue wid spirit men. #abondo dontwari nxt game is ua chance. shakava tew,l thnk shakava is capable than saleh. rwanda,uganda scored. wow! .
AT KOGALO where the football lives. .nd bliv me. saizi patric oboya ako wapi? the man is playng akirudi grassroots.alianza ju now anacheza akirudi kwa nyazi. he join allstarz fc. gud lack man.bt punguza mwili or elz nxt time pia utachezea BONDO UNITD
Collince okoth gudwork man. lov the spirit .he playd..
Abondo wherever i see u i see a brilliant future. Thanks for such positive commente, Just work work hard n always follow coaches instructions n You Will b There i want u get a big club out There n u join kina akumu n owino u will Ve overally improved ua life n always work as a team
like kina khalid,shakava, siboumana,ngigzimana,rooney kagere. as gor we know how used suffer when had other people as goal keepers, but when boni oluoch came we Can correctly predict. Lets support boni coz He Is Next big thing lets avoid This media stories about bonni That He was unstabble
@john…what media stories are you talking about?its true,Bonnie was unstable during the Congo game..its a fact.Let us not sing his praises for that game just coz he is a Gor Mahia keeper…a mistake is a mistake regardless of who does it.
Having said that,i still think he is a top top keeper and arguably the best in kenya at the moment and i hope his poor performance in Congo was just a one-off moment!!
I hope I am wrong about Boniface Oluoch, but my review of his performance when he turned out for Gor Mahia early this season makes me conclude that he tends to be shaky with an unfamiliar defense. Consider the two goals Mathare United scored from set pieces. Those are not the kind of balls that can beat Oluoch with the current Gor Mahia defense.
I would theorize that he tends to be less confident with his defenders before he gets familiar with them. This is what played out in Congo when he had a very unfamiliar set of defenders. I am however, optimistic that with time as the team continues to stick together, Boniface Oluoch will be very regular in goal for the national team whose name nauseates so much, and those selections will be on merit.
Harambee stars played well has the potential to do even better. Congrats.
Boniface Oluoch was very good and almost saved the penalty. If he was shaky as some people want us to believe we could have conceded at least 3 goals, especially those many free-kicks.
Defense needs some adjustments. Saleh may not combine well in central defense with David ‘Cheche’ Ochieng’. Central defense should be manned by David ‘Calabar’ Owino and David Cheche. Bobby Williamson needs to thoroughly test full back 2 and 3. I think he can either use Aboud Omar for 3 and give Saleh full-back 2 or bring in either Atudo or Edwin Wafula or Loid Wahome, Musa, etc depending on his assessment.
If Bobby Williamson can work on defense and mid-field, I think nothing will stop Kenya from featuring in AFCON.
On subs, the coach needs to see very fast. By 50th minute a substitute was required but he waited until it was too late before he could bring the likes of Ayub Timbe and Akumu…
@Alando, let’s point out our weak areas with the aim of improving. A goal keeper is considered unstable if he leave his area goes for the ball but misses it. Bonnie had several of those and they resulted in near-misses. We would have conceded like three goals due to that. All the same I believe he learnt a lesson though our defence wasn;t the best
How i wish another keeper stands btw the post in return leg congo vs Kenya then u Will see how many goals Congo Will hammer Kenya i bet here 4goals congo ,1 goal Kenya.
then i Will be waiting your comment here, gor coach Is not wrong to trust boni on goal post. Ve watched best international keeper leave goal post n Ve Never seen anybody refer them as shaky or unstable, it think some bloggers want to bring boni down but Wil continue to support him here or elsewhere
@john your have comments represents thousands of sound and balanced minded kenyans who never wished to dwell in this debate including myself. Yes mistake were noted but the kind of media bashing and biased opinions that Bonnie has received from FM stations and social media is not meant to offer him any positive support but rather dampen his spirit. All this bashing and especially from the leading commentators in SS-PLAYBACK should just make him work harder and proves his detractors OTHERWISE.
At times i ask myself who is that good goalkeeper that has never experienced a moment howler and goofing in his playing career and especially in top flight football.
Can any blogger name one good keeper either LOCALLY
or WORLDWIDE?
1. Are forgetting ARNOLD ORIGI and Musa Otieno’s Back pass that fumbled into the net against ERITREA?
2. How about De gea in his initial appearance at Man U and is he not the ONE voted as the best in the concluded season of EPL?
3. Talk of Cassilas at both Spain and Madrid and what of NEUER.
Guys give Bonnie a break and let him prove himself at H/STARS the same way he has done with GM after gelling and settling down well with his team mates.
And for the GOR-HATERS in SS-PLAYBACK keep it in mind that Bonnie conceded via penalty that was caused by the leaky and panicking H/STARS defense. And as a matter of fact he dived to right side and missed it with a whisker.
NA KAMA 10 CLEAN-SHEET INA KUWASHA MEZA WEMBE.
He just had one bad game and he learned from it