Coach Zdravko Logarusic Thursday attributed Kenya's poor performance in African championships to the relatively low ranking of the Kenyan Premier League. He also blamed the below par performance on players' failure to use their speed and strength on the pitch.
Logarusic, a Croat, coaches Kenyan Premier League side, Gor Mahia.
Gor Mahia are former CAF Nelson Mandela Cup, Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (Cecafa) Clubs champions and national champions. The Nelson Mandela Cup has since been scrapped by CAF.
Gor Mahia finished second in the 2012 Kenyan Premier League, behind winners, Tusker.
Logarusic is relatively new in the country, having taken charge of Gor Mahia in the middle of the 2012 season. But when he talks football stakeholders listen because he is credited with taking Gor Mahia from the lower reaches of the KPL table to an impressive second-place finish.
Talking to the press ahead of Saturday's CAF Confederation Cup match between Gor Mahia and Seychelles' Anse Reunion in Nairobi, the Croat said Kenyans are blessed with natural speed and that is why the country's athletes excel in the world.
But when it comes to football, Kenyan footballers 'fail to capitalise on the God-given speed, they also don't use their strength.
He said because of the low rating of the Kenyan league, most Kenyan clubs start their campaigns for CAF titles in the preliminaries instead of getting byes to higher rounds.
On the match against Anse, he said though unhappy with the timing, he is determined to take Gor Mahia to higher rounds of the Confederation Cup by beating the Seychelles side at home and away.
Pana 14/02/2013