Sofapaka striker Pistone Mutamba and winger Ovella Ochieng are set to continue spearheading Kenya’s quest of playing at the Africa Under-23 Cup of Nations and 2020 Olympics Games for the first time in the country’s history.
The two forwards were on Friday named by Emerging Stars coach Francis Kimanzi in his 25-man squad which will compete against Sudan in round two of the qualification campaign.
The first of this double-legged clash will be in Khartoum on March 20 and the rematch is primed for the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani four days later.
Kimanzi, who also doubles up as Harambee Stars assistant coach, released his squad just a day after the senior national team head coach Sebastien Migne named his 24-man squad for the dead rubber 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match against Ghana.
Sofapaka’s Mutamba has struggled in front of goal in the SportPesa Premier League this term but it is likely the lanky forward has been selected on the basis of his exemplary form in round one of this qualification campaign.
He scored twice as Stars dumped out a sorry Mauritius 8-1 on aggregate. Ovella Ochieng, who is based in Sweden also starred in this round, scoring thrice over two games.
Kimanzi has also called up some fresh faces to his squad including Boniface Onyango and Moses Mudavadi who have been promoted from the U20 Rising Stars squad.
Also included is Arnold Onyango who captained the U17 team to fourth place at the CECAFA U17 championship last year plus Kakamega Homeboyz hotshot Peter Thiong’o, fresh from being named the top flight league’s player of the month for December.
The aggregate winner of this match will either face Libya or Nigeria in round three for a place in the Africa U23 Cup of Nations set for Egypt early next year.
And it is from this eight-team tournament that the three teams to represent Africa at the Olympics will be known.