Harambee Stars striker Michael Olunga has hailed the present football leadership in the country for transforming the game.
In an interview with FIFA, the world’s football body, the former Gor Mahia forward acknowledged a lot still needs to be done, but the future is looking good.
The present Football Kenya Federation (FKF) president Nick Mwendwa and his team came to power in 2016 under ‘Team Change’ banner.
Olunga played at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt when Kenya made a return to the continent’s biggest football showpiece in 15 years.
“There has been a change of leadership and now the new regime is trying to bring in new ideas and train the coaches more and bringing in a new aspect of the game,” said the left footed striker, who plays in Japan for Kashiwa Reysol.
“I believe they have really transformed Kenyan football, even though we’re still not where we’d like to be by 2020. We can see positive growth. I believe we have a great future,” added.
Like all players, Olunga dreams of gracing the World Cup, the biggest football event, and believes Kenya stands a chance of making the 2022 edition in Qatar if they work hard.
Kenya is booked alongside Uganda, Mali and Rwanda in Group E of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.
“Every single player dreams of playing in the World Cup. If you look at these teams, Uganda and Mali were at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, and they progressed to the Round of 16, too, while we were eliminated after the group stage. If you look at it that way, we are one of the weaker teams in the group.
“But football is changing and each and every one has the opportunity to play home and away, so you have the same advantages are your opponents in a sense. It’s all about trying to work hard, taking advantage of when you play your home games and finding ways to get results, and sometimes you need a little bit of luck. You can’t depend on luck. We will work hard and try to give it a good push.”
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