CECAFA

Former AFC Leopards and Bandari FC head coach Andre Casa Mbungo believes that teams from the CECAFA region stand no chance of clinching the 2025 African Nations Championships (CHAN).

The much-awaited eighth edition of the tournament, which brings players from domestic leagues together, will be jointly hosted by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania between February 1-28 next year.

The closest the CHAN title has ever come to the region was in 2009 and 2016 when the Democratic Republic of Congo clinched it in Ivory Coast and Rwanda.
 
Despite the fact that three of the four teams that will represent the region in next year’s finals will have the benefit of playing in front of home fans, Mbungo feels that the title will either be won by a team from West or North Africa.
 
19 countries will be contesting for the top honours, including the increased prize money in what will be the tournament’s first-ever edition to be co hosted by three countries.

CECAFA REGION STILL LAGGING BEHIND
Asked on why he thought East African teams had no capacity to win the title, Mbungo, without mincing his words, pointed out the youth development structures in the region which he observed, were nowhere near those in the West and North of the continent.
 
Mbungo said the fact that young players from the region die to join big academies in West Africa so as to boost their chances of making it to Europe was a worrying sign that CECAFA teams still had ground to cover as compared to the rest in the continent.
 
The Rwandese tactician also observed that West and North African leagues were stronger compared to the ones in East Africa as evidenced by the past winners of the CAF Champions and Confederation Cups.
 
The former AS Kigali coach further said, the results teams from the region had posted in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers were the clearest indicators of the rift between the regions and thus easy to predict where the winner of CHAN 2025 will come from.

Nearly all CECAFA teams suffered heavy defeats in the October qualifiers with Kenya losing 4-1 to five-time African champions Cameroon.
 
“Teams from North and West Africa are stronger than ours on many fronts. They have invested heavily in talent identification and youth development. Their leagues are strong and attract talents from all over the continent,” he told SportsBoom.com in a telephone interview.

“Their teams have been dominating in CAF inter-club competitions. They have also been making regular appearances in AFCON and the World Cup, unlike our teams. This gives them an edge to win the CHAN tournament.” 

Mbungo called on more investment, especially on youth programs, so as to catch up with the rest in the tournament.

“We are at least doing something, but it is still not enough. We have to invest more in talent identification and programs which develop the game. We have to train more coaches on modern methods and expose our players to the current demands of the game,” said the former goalkeeper.

WHY HARAMBEE STARS SHOULDN’T UNDERRATE OPPONENTS DURING QUALIFIERS
With Stars set to face South Sudan in the qualifiers, there is a general feeling that Kenya will easily wipe the floor with the Bright Stars.
 
However, Mbungo, who is currently attached to South Sudanese side Jamus FC, says Kenya should prepare for a tough encounter despite the FIFA ranking and other factors leaning in their favour.

The first leg will be held on the weekend of October 25-27 in Juba with the return leg being played a week later. It remains to be seen where Kenya will host the game.

Should Kenya eliminate South Sudan, they will set up a date with the winner between Rwanda and Djibouti. Mbungo, who has had the benefit of coaching in Rwanda and South Sudan says the quality of players in the two countries is good enough to cause trouble for Kenya.
 
“The countries that will play Kenya in the qualifiers know that a loss will deny them a ticket to the finals. This means they will do everything possible to beat Kenya. Rwanda and South Sudan have good players who have gained experience through playing different qualifiers with their national teams. Much as Kenya has good players as well, the qualifiers will not be one-sided,” he shared his thoughts.

WHY QUALIFIERS ARE IMPORTANT FOR HOST NATIONS
Stars head coach Engin Firat is on record expressing dissatisfaction with the decision to have host nations play the qualifiers as they already have the ticket in their pockets.
 
Firat argued that the qualifiers would disrupt the flow of the domestic league, affect the local players who are in plans for the AFCON and World Cup qualifiers as well as be expensive.
 
However, Mbungo is of the opinion that the qualifiers will help coaches gauge their players and work on strengths and weaknesses before the tournament.

“I think coaches should be happy that they will have more time with their players. The qualifiers will be like test matches for them. Playing the qualifiers will help them spot the weaknesses on time,” he added.