Shabana winger Darius Msagha has revealed that delays experienced in the renewal of his passport cost him a place in the Harambee Stars squad for a CHAN qualifier against South Sudan.
Msagha had been included in the team, but coach Engin Firat was forced to drop him after the player failed to avail the document by Wednesday. Stars hit the runaway on Friday for the first leg of the opening round of the qualifiers set for Sunday at Juba Stadium.
The return leg is scheduled for Sunday, November 3 at the Mandela National Stadium in Namboole, Uganda with the winner on aggregate facing either Rwanda or Djibouti in the final round of the qualifiers.
As Stars soared high in the skies to Juba, Msagha was left behind with a crashed career dream of playing for the national team and was bitter with himself for his ignorance.
I WISH I HAD RENEWED PASSPORT IN TIME
In an exclusive interview with SportsBoom, Msagha disclosed that his passport expired in 2022 but he never bothered to get hold of a new one until the invitation to play for Stars came in.
Msagha last used his passport during his time at Bandari where he was part of the squad that did incredibly well in the CAF Confederation Cup in 2019. He narrated how he dashed to the Immigration Office in Kisii, on Monday, but his frantic efforts to secure the document in time didn’t bear fruit.
Football Kenya Federation had asked players considered for the South Sudan assignment to submit their passports by latest Wednesday but Msagha didn’t manage to beat the deadline.
“It is unfortunate that I was locked out of the national team due to lack of a passport. My passport expired in 2022, and I applied for a new one on Monday. Sadly, it wasn’t out before Wednesday which was the final day of submitting it to the federation. I wish I could have renewed it long ago,” opened up Msagha.
Coach Firat confirmed that he had to leave Msagha behind alongside two other players, who were in his plans for the game, for failing to obtain the document in time.
“It is true there were three players who had passport problems including him (Msagha). It wasn’t solved in time and hence difficult in traveling,” said Firat in a telephone interview.
LESSON LEARNT HARD WAY
The former Sofapaka winger conceded that being omitted from the team, left him feeling the effects of ignorance and will prompt him to get his act together going forward.
Msagha, who moved to Shabana before the start of the season, said the painful axing from the team opened his eyes and counseled players to have their documents in place.
“I have learnt my lesson the hard way. I will do better next time. This should send a message to fellow players on the importance of having documents throughout,” he said.
Msagha’s predicament is not an isolated case as Firat is on record lamenting the snail pace witnessed in the processing of a passport for diaspora talents with Kenyan roots.
In June, Firat blamed bureaucratic challenges after the duo of Tobias Knost and Zax Vyner failed to get passports ahead of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Burundi and Ivory Coast.
MSAGHA EYEING REDEMPTION
Despite missing out on the trip to South Sudan, Msagha is confident that his performances at Shabana will win him a spot in the team for the final round of the CHAN qualifiers. If Stars fail to go past South Sudan, they will turn their focus to the actual tournament set to run between February 1-28 in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
Msagha, who scored eleven goals last season at Sofapaka, says he believes that his left foot will elevate him back to the team and in achieving other career goals.
“I promise to score goals and accomplish my dream of playing for the national team. I want to play in the final round of the qualifiers and the tournament. I also have dreams of playing in serious qualifiers and tournaments with the senior team,” he added.
