According to Mehr reporter, Engin Firat, the head coach of the Kenyan national football team, whose team will face Iran on April 8 at the Azadi Stadium, said: “For once, give us time to build the team.” I need time to try players and find the best combinations. That is our only focus right now and we are ready to do it, but please give us time and let us be united.
He was speaking to reporters at a hotel in Nairobi on Sunday, his first press conference since his return to the country on March 1.
Firat added: “It is surprising that Kenyans always expect the team to record positive results, but no long-term efforts have been made to build a strong team.”
He considered the non-holding of top competitions for the national team and the bad state of sports infrastructure in the country as the reason for its continued poor performance.
The head coach of Kenya emphasized: I checked the history of Kenya and I found out that you have never played against any top European team. This is a sad fact.
Firat lamented, adding that he will make sure his team faces at least one top team from Europe next year.
He continued: We don’t even have a field to host an international match. It is not true. We should have at least one ground outside of Nairobi where we can play.
Regarding the match against Iran, the 52-year-old coach said that their goal is to “learn” because Iran is ranked 24th in the world and is the joint face of the World Cup.
Firat stated: Iran is a country with good football and a quality offensive line. This is the level of opposition that I want myself and the players to face. I want to push the players early so that they learn. Now it is not about the result.
Praising the strength of Iran’s offensive line with the presence of players such as Taremi, Azmoun and Jahanbakhsh, he said: the financial value of an Iranian player is equal to the entire Kenyan team.
In a part of this press conference, Firat also criticized the leak of information and news of the Kenyan team to the media and emphasized that he will find the source of news in his team!
Firat said: Before the match with the Iranian national team was finalized, this news was published in the media. Congratulations. You – journalists – did your job well.
The head coach of Kenya emphasized: I am trying to prevent this from happening, but when we played with the Mali team, our list came out three hours before the match.
Continuing his criticism of Kenyan journalists and media, Firat said: Is this journalism or have you harmed your country? I collect this in my team. I’ll find someone to leak the news and put an end to this.