 Good afternoon and welcome back to the Tashline on Y2fa, my name is Maksova Sikerova Tosoro, he is still with us and of course joining me is a superb duo of players, former players who prominently featured for the national team Arambe Stars before and in 2004 they represented the country during African Cup of Nations that took place in Tunisia, though the national team Arambe Stars was eliminated at the group stage but they did spectacularly well representing the nation and it's been 15 years down the line since the country qualified to the continental showpiece. This time around it's happening in Egypt and Kenya will be among the 24 countries participating, joining me James Omondi, former Taska strike country, former Arambe Stars strike as well alongside Titus Mulamma, gentlemen good to join us, Jemo how have you been man? Pleasure coming back to the show. What's good? Life is good. Life is good. Tito how have you been? I've been okay and people mistaking you with Simon Sepe Mulamma, he's a twin brother to Sepe so this is Titus Mulamma, he featured in 2004 while Sepe did and of course he was away in states for some academic scholarship. Titus how have you been? Oh things outside there. Everything's okay, just working with the young boys still in the game. Giving back to the society of course of course. Osoro Robert is also still with us but he is saying that you know the draw is tricky for the national team Arambe Stars, Pulsi, Kenya, Senegal, Algeria, Tanzania. What do you think about the draw? Manageable or tricky one? It is manageable. It depends with the preparations and the psyche of the players. If it is right they can perform. Tito you played again in Senegal at the group stage in 2004 this time round Kenya has been pulled alongside Teranga Lions of Senegal. I know during those days the likes of Elhaji Diofi was in Cairo last night during you know the draw and what do you make of the squad right now and the squad then? Well I think Senegal has been a good country football wise and I think they've been having a very strong team especially during these qualifiers but then of course you cannot compare to that to that time but of course I've been following their qualification matches and they are they're really having a good team and they had a good run in the qualifications I think they almost had the perfect record in the qualifiers. Yeah actually it's true they never lost any match they won five draw one. Senegal is the best ranked African country and we've been pulled alongside them. Algeria you know Kenyans on social media platforms immediately after the draw they're saying that you know Kenyans to collect three points from our neighbors Tanzania then force a draw against Algeria then probably if we get beaten by Senegal well and good as long as we make it to the next stage that's round of 16. I don't know from your assessment what do you make of Kenyan chances to progress? Fortunately or unfortunately football is not mathematical. The key is the preparations and there's no doubt Senegal have a very good team they have very good players Sadi Omane does it every week we we and our best player is struggling for form so it will depend on the preparations that we have so hopefully we prepare well and then face the challenge. Tatas is it just me or could I be wrong to say that it is a rambestaz that needs to work hard because from the qualifiers themselves Senegal were on top of their group Algeria were on top of their group so people can say manageable but Kenyans to really work hard? We really have to work hard and my take is that if we have not only working hard but if we have a good squad selection then we will definitely make a mark because you know these teams like Senegal have many of their players playing abroad and you know on african arena these players have been struggling over the years you see the likes of Drogba he could not make it really really shine in the african arena so I think that yes we have to work hard but we have depending on the squad selection I think we can give anyone problems at any time. Sebastian Mini of course the dilemma now is the selection that Tatas Mulama is talking about what is he supposed to do in terms of getting his choices right to make a three months code that will be superb enough to represent the country and sparkle at the connetual stage considering that what he's just said is very important as well the likes of D-Drogba in as much as they did well overseas in Chelsea football club coming back on african soil they didn't replicate the same show do you think now that we have plenty of players playing in our local leagues that will be the key is on the players that are playing you see like for example like Jesse Were yes very good striker plays probably every week for Zesco when he comes to the national team there's a problem he doesn't give or he doesn't replicate the same form as the one he has in for his club so the coach has to look at his pool of players that he has been using all this time for the qualifiers then look at the players who play week in week out like Were they should not forget about him for what he's been doing for his club playing constantly in the cap champions league confedations cap scoring left right and center they need to give him another chance so that we go with that team that is acceptable across board okay and that is key the selection that is going to be done then they go for that training camp get the team spirit right get the right mentality in that team they can be done Titus I've got a question in 2004 when you went to Tunisia you had seven players from Madari United you are actually considered the engine of the team today we don't have many players from one club in Kenya primarily go can make it but from the most conversation you can realize that we've got good players in Kenya playing in the african continent to actually understand african football we've got to just say where we've got David Calabo we've got Antonia Kumu we've got Denny Suiza Tinkana if these players are given that chance as african players who understand african football can we have a very good engine for the show please yeah of course of course it's a big advantage to give this this larger chance and I think it's a very huge motivation also to them because they know that this is the stage where they can even further their careers maybe get a contract in Europe but they do understand the african terrain well and I think in terms of motivation it's only important that these guys have given a chance Osoro Robert how outzikare transanians because in their last clash it was a low die fixture against Uganda claims they needed to win so that to qualify to the african cup of nations and they did that beating Uganda claims 3 nil should Kenya approach its game cosiously because there's this attitude from Kenyans especially on social media platforms who think that you know Tanzanians might be awoken the park and like you know other group challenges how outzikare they they they have got a good squad but I think for Tanzania they struggled in the qualifiers and that much against Uganda even if people say that it was a correct score and everything I think for me in my own understanding and everything I'll still say that much was thrown away that's an individual position that is my own individual position I think that much was thrown away Tanzania finished at position 2 at their group level they won only two matches and they had a group that had Lesotho and Cape Vard you realize that with Uganda so if they were competitive enough they could have been top of their group or second in their group with a formidable type of number I will actually go ahead and say Tanzania is among the lucky teams that made it to the shop is katesi of the shop is being expanded not because the shop is was competitive enough of the 16 teams and we want the creme de la creme I think Tanzania what the lucky ones to get into the shop is because the shop is nice 2014 and we needed to be they qualify on merit and they deserve being at the continental shop is I think they deserve because they defeated Ghana at home they defeated Ethiopia at home and gave them problems away so you cannot take away that from Kenya and Ghana was a big team and they deserve to go and fight for themselves and get there for Tanzania I think it was just Uganda creme say let's also have this Africa let's have the Saqafa region getting into the shop is but not good enough and I think if my director can do me a favor just put the entire draw on the screen so that we can go pool by pool us we look into what happened last night in Kairu the African Cup of Nations draw conducted 2014 taking part in continental shop is later for Egypt later this year in June of course group A has got the hosts Egypt automatic inclusion and that's the draw on the screen Egypt alongside DR Congo Uganda crems and Zimbabwe arithmetically does Uganda stand a chance to progress to the next stage considering that the first two automatically qualify to the next stage then third placed for them to make it at the round of 16 yeah comparing Uganda with Kenya the way they've been playing for the last like three years yes Uganda they have a fighting chance in that group yeah because Ugandan like Tito just said they have a lot of players spread across Africa they have the African terrain they know how to go about it so they have a fighting chance they can get a result against Zimbabwe they can get a result against Congo and even Egypt they can get a result Tito do you read from the same script with Jamu that Uganda crems on me but really can get a point against DR Congo and Egypt yeah over the years I think for the past four five six years Uganda have been playing very tough opponents and producing good results so I think in this group maybe Egypt should give them problems maybe but Uganda is a very strong team I cannot see them having any problems with DR Congo or Zimbabwe remember DR Congo is not the same as of five years ago they have they have like a generational change and Zimbabwe I do not give them many chance against Uganda so yes I think Uganda has a big chance I think it's one of the toughest groups because you look at Zimbabwe they also finish the top of their group in the qualifier so you cannot take that away from them and then Zimbabwe and Congo were in the same group in the qualifiers so that one might say who is going to be better against the other one then come Uganda Uganda I think the moment they qualified the last time the last time round after 39 years not cool I think they finished the finals in 79 Uganda was the final team in 79 then they lost then now they come back they don't get into the show piece but they fight to get there from then on they have been amassing a great pool of players not actually outside of Uganda but in Africa we tell us they have got like people in kaza teams like Walu Sim but they have got Dennis Onyango with ma melody the likes of Batambuze back here in Kenya and when you go and play against you can more so in Nambole or at their home it's not a team to joke around with you let's go to the group B which is got Senegal's group B sorry which has got the super eagles of Nigeria alongside Algeria alongside Guinea Madagascar and Burundi manageable group and I walk in the park for the super eagles of Nigeria guaranteed to qualify Osora robot to the next stage I think Nigeria that they have a big chance to qualify into that group considering Madagascar is a debut team coming on to this side Burundi they have not been tough enough in the African continent or also they are making I think the second time they are making into the showpiece but Guinea and Nigeria are teams that you can give a chance to go there and then Nigeria have got this problem of not being in the last afghan not winning the last an afghan showpiece for I think 10 15 years because the super eagles that people know the dream team of super eagles of 94 96 the moment it died out we have not seen any other super eagles no matter how good the players tell us about the super eagles you met in the 90s in the 70s the likes of Mukachi you play them here in Nairobi and the super eagles of today's different it is how tough how tough were super eagles during those days because last night when the draws getting conducted I saw you know players getting interviewed Ahmed Musa you know laughing looking very happy because he thinks that you know the group is is is well managed but it's easier for them how tough were the super eagles of those days and the super eagles of nowadays well you can tell from Musa's reaction that he's not been in the game for long but that is your he's only thinking doesn't think beyond the group because any serious player would not be happy about just qualifying or getting a weaker group to qualify to the quarter finals but I think the super eagles then had had great players and most of them were leaders and you can see you can tell from after after their career after the playing career they've gone into coaches or management so yes the the super eagles then was very tough very organized very talented and very committed players as compared to these super eagles that we just saw like playing the in the world cup the the players really really uh struggling are not are not that competitive as if I can say jamu the super eagles that played Kenya sometime back I think towards early 2019 98 what the standout names that you know cost sleepless nights to Kenya there was overfemi martins uh there was the likes of no uncle kano no uncle jj ukoja the dribla yeah but you you have to understand every country every footballing country uh there's a time the that generation has to go yeah then between that generation and raising another team yes there's always the there's always a period that you suffer yes so Nigeria have suffered yeah so they are rebuilding now they are back in the cup of nation yes so uh it is wrong for players like musa to start smiling laughing yeah that they are in a good pool because for i'll tell you for free this broody team you can spring a surprise yes watch them they play very well they play very well they have very good technical players so they should not write off anybody in that pool and their president has been quite supportive of their football activities good motivation enough to actually finish the second group yeah of course we done with group C that has got Kenya alongside Nigeria Senegal and Tanzania and we go straight to group D that has got Morocco alongside Ivor Coast South Africa and Namibia what a pool Osora Robert well that's a pool that I'm of the idea I've been following half renaud the former Zambian coach and Ivor Coast coach he's the one coach who understands the Africa cup of nations you so what it went to Zambia gave them atrophy went to Ivor Coast gave them atrophy went to Morocco took them to the welcome so it tells you that this is a coach who understands african football and with the resources that Morocco has this is the team to watch for the all of the shop is not just qualifying to the knockout stages but it is a team to watch for Ivor Coast I think is the same scenario as the way James has said it your staff players are gone the yaya turis are done drop bars are done Solomon Kalu yeah and those players actually won after half renaud has come there and it was I think a fighting time for them no matter what we have to get this trophy but now again it's a new pool of players and you need to show that you are there for merit and to win the trophy so it's a tough pool but those are the two sides that can make it to the knockout stages Tito South Africans are also struggling despite boasting of you know well equipped facilities they hosted the coveted showpiece workup in 2010 and I think that they think first host country getting eliminated from the group stage they have not been doing well as far as football is concerned both african and even at the international stage are they also suffering from the problem of transitioning because since the days of beni makati kwinton fortune nothing much has been witnessed in terms of growth and development of south african football as a country do you give them an edge over the opponent in group d I cannot but south africa I so the south africa that I can remember is the likes of McFish and the base you know and they they were really a good team you could see from their display from their organization but this south african this south african team has been like cold warm you know they can sometime when you expect them to win they lose a match so they they are they are a team that can spring a surprise anytime but you cannot bank on them what I can say about them is that we we should expect anything from south africa yes we should expect maybe to lose against moroko then they spring a surprise and win you should expect them to win against madagascar in south africa then it goes to slumber and they get beaten so they cannot give them such a night from the qualifiers we realize that south africa actually never lost any match tells you that they are good defensively going into such kind of a tournament they were in the same pool with nigeria so they can they can see they have measured themselves against nigeria and they can go out there and fight but the problem with south africa most of the time is you've got a good league in africa and the sports immigration getting into afri in south african good players and getting into south africa but south african themselves don't take football very seriously the way they do rugby and cricket and other sports events if they were to concentrate their resources on football and everything they can win it because at the end of the day it's 96 they won this show please the faster the last they have done it so far from then on they have not even made it to the quarterfinals they have not even made it brought a serious theme into the competition that can can actually fight for the competition so it is tricky for them in this pool also namibians of course they qualified arithmetically i remember after their last clash you know players slept on the pitch thinking that they had been bundled out of you know the qualification only to realize later a few minutes later than the other game that played in the same pool had ended in their favor now they qualified mathematical what do you make of their chances to sparkle in that particular group i think uh for me they'll make the number and therefore my top goalkeeper was also last night at cairo kanalelo yes yeah i was a very good keeper then i think they'll make the numbers in that pool as you rightly put it uh osoro i believe muroko is the thing to beat in that pool uh south africa uh they they they blow hot or cold so you you can never say uh quite unpredictable yeah and kodivo they are on the rebuilding process it's good they're back in the cup of nations so hopefully uh there'll be interesting matchups between kodivo south afrika and amibia uh to fight for the second slot straight to the next pool that is group e tunisia mali uh alongside mauritania and angola osoro yeah tunisia i've got an up advantage in that particular pool to make it to the next stage yeah considering that tunisia won their group actually they want their group winning five matches and losing only one tells you that they are ready for the african shop is the only team that is getting baptism by fire there has got to be more tenure it is the first time they're getting into the afrika cup of nations so they actually do not know what they are going to expect but between maali and angola those are teams you cannot write off they are actually good good teams that play in the african cup of nations and for them they have been a main stay in the afrika cup of nations so it is one tricky pool which you are not sure of who is going to win because maali on top of their group in the qualifiers tunisia also top of the group in the qualifiers so it's a group that is going to give people tito talking about maali they had a formidable striker in the name of redrick kanute who featured for severe in spanish football for quite long do you think they have managed to replace such kind of you know players so that they have proper transition getting into this particular showpiece well maali i think they have they have a good team at the moment but now they is like the maali playing now does not depend on big names but they depend on not not on individuals but in teamwork and that is what has helped them through the qualifiers i know they have like players like kita but then they they really depend on on teamwork because not not not the it's not the whole team that has big names so i can say they have been able to replace him as a team but not in the from individual players but from that from that group i think teams like moritania they are making debut into the tournament but they are not under any pressure and there are there are teams that can cause problems playing without any pressure that's playing because they know it's a festival qualifying already is enough for us so just playing and making um uh oraring the fixture is in uh it's it's an honor in itself for them those are the teams that might spring surprises in in this tournament you see the maalis the senegals the nigerians they went back to youth yes just have a look just look back they went back to youth football they've been consistently at the top yes in african youth football and these are the graduates that are moving to the senior team now they might not be known they might not be big names but this could be a game changer for them and like totia just said moritania is an unknown quality yes they are coming there with no pressure they are coming to play football so uh it could be interesting very interesting it could be interesting we go straight to the last pool that is uh group f that as good all west african countries kami rune the itomi table lions alongside black stars of gana four time african champions benin is also in that particular pool alongside gini bisaw kraka especially between between that clash involving kami rune and gana it is a tough tough group because now the pressure is also on kami rune you are the defending champions you have to win your group and everything and they are coming with one of the best players the world had to offer clarence doff is the coach and being assisted by patrick loubert so he has come in a very experienced technical bench the pressure of defending the trophy is on new so you have to come back and show people that you are really good enough into this tournament gana is also there you have got the best players in the world but you are not winning anything you come into africa cup of nations almost everybody is from european based clubs playing football in europe but when you come back home there is nothing that you are going to do so it is going to be tricky for them don't forget gini bisaw because gini bisaw was top of your group in qualifying so this is a tough tough team that is by virtue of name we are not big enough but the caliber of the players we have we have the strength to take on anybody so it's actually a tough pool and kami rune and gana they have to be 100% sure that they can pay the other two teams tito how tough were kami rune and during those days when kenya used to play against them well i think kami rune have always been tough i've been very physical then but now we can see a technical kami rune for the last maybe five four five years but kami rune is i can say sometimes they are unlucky in this competition because they have good players they have good scores but then just when you expect them to maybe make it to the quarters of the same is they are just beaten by a slim margin unfortunate maybe in penalties so i think kami rune uh now they are still strong but not compared you cannot compare it to the yester years as far as gana is concerned asamo agian is not guaranteed to be included in the national team for the black stars the coach spoke last night and he says that every player has got equal opportunity i don't know from where you see do you think he deserves a place or is an old guard right now i think the coach the back stops to the coach so if he is made a decision maybe he is a human being he might change his decision later but he look at the the coach when he was reappointed he tried to bring some of the core players that brought gana to that level uh then the performances that is stabilizing now they've qualified uh he has had problem with some players though are you brothers yeah he has had problems with them so he's trying to replace them but albeit after qualification and you look at kami rune uh from long time between kami rune and kenya uh they never beat us we always draw with them uh despite them having those those good good good players but currently they have very technical players not physical like before technically they are good they have uh good good good tactics when they play and um i think the surprise in this pool could be gini bisaw gini bisaw review of 2019 african cup of nations has been the segment on the touchline on y25 this particular afternoon happening every saturday one two three max olasika is my name of course alongside robot osoro joining me status mulama from internationally played prominently for the national team before and featured and you were guaranteed of all matches at the group stage in 2001 that goes to mulai right playing on the wing how was it man the best play in the world don't don't don't take it away from him he scored the first goal we hope we scored in open play yeah cup of nations when we lost against mali 31 but you you were tied to group back then we can remember you had the man uh okay the dreadlock the guy francis on you i think i can get this quote you miss the you miss the group yeah we do we were at its unit jamies we had like a chemistry built because we we had worked for so long together and we we had the same vision we knew what we wanted in the long run so yes we missed those days and how was the squad in terms of transitioning even technically jack up goes to mulai he's been at the uh at the helm of kenyan football uh in charge of you know an academy that has produced uh engineer michael olunga comparing with the current squad and the current taking cold bench how do you see things fair i can see that having qualified so we can just see things are going okay they're in the right direction looking at the team or in the at the squad you can see young players coming up or coming through the ranks so i think it's a bright future for us and this can only serve as a moral booster for the for the young generation in kenya and much of it is unfair to compare that team in the current team how unfair it is unfair ghost had his time he had that cream of players that group of players having worked with them for he understood the players he had and we have to appreciate now we have another team in place they have qualified they have another technical bench in place so uh they also have to show what they are made of yes visit they go out there uh our team we scored from open play we won our first match yes as i can't as i can't make up of nation yes so they need to be again it's so they need to work they need to do whatever they have to do to get a good team that will cut across board there will be no acribony how yeah i know it is very difficult to please a lot of people yes but you just be fair they are a good team it is our country we want our country to go to get a couple of nations and better what we did in 2004 yes definitely looking forward to that and james omond of course also speaking from a task striker now in charge of ligindogo academy you guys are passionate about youth football how is the progress at ligindogo jamu currently we are not very very badly the kids are growing we we just took two categories to spain in valencia to another tournament so we are on the up and i believe this is the right way to go we need to get this young man playing technically very good players the tactics and this other things they'll be uh given when they grow older before just before i wind up someone is telling me that ask james omondu how was it competitive up front you know with that squad of jacob ghost mule that had my koko the father to you know divoko rigi in manu ake deni solij how competitive my man you have somebody like tito when you make a run it just gives you the ball what else do you have to do so it's it's just it's he was to lose yeah it's if you don't call blame yourself you have tito you have john mo you have mambo you have gaza in that middle my man then at the back you have muso jeno jero you have jojo you have uh jojo is uh jojo away yeah so then you have isakasim why why can't you score my man then in kul francis onisu there was francis nankan there is there was so much cream delacrim my man so you have somebody like tito you have to score looking forward to that of course the african cup of nations later for later this year in egypt kenya amongst the 24 countries that will be participating and of course have been pulled in groups alongside the best ranked african country Senegal alongside algeria north african representative and our neighbors tanzania and both status mula man james omondu from international say that you know kenya that police manager band they can progress to the next stage always a pleasure having you on board jemo thank you for the time all the best looking forward to hear from you soon tito thanks for coming through man how is your academy they're doing good at the moment we're in nakuru playing and some tournament kuzaki page tournament they are with the youth another youth coach over there but we are doing good you mean youth football is now the core it is all over the the world not the country only all over the world youth is the is the core cheers man coming up next fans on where we focus on international football a lot of headlines review of ufa champions league and european league matches that happened in midweek man united fans trying to be happy after being beaten by basalona saying that they tried so much of course that will form the basis of our discussion and also the games coming up next tomorrow liverpool against chelsea don't go away stay tuned it's the touchline on y25