Official Kenyan World Cup soccer qualifying thread

Surely the Kenyans must come on strong in the last 30 minutes of soccer games? Both teams' players have run about 10 km each at that point and the Kenyans with their altitude genes and thin calves should be fresh as daisies and unstoppable?

Natural born soccer players wrote:

Surely the Kenyans must come on strong in the last 30 minutes of soccer games? Both teams' players have run about 10 km each at that point and the Kenyans with their altitude genes and thin calves should be fresh as daisies and unstoppable?

Not all Kenyans have same genetics.

And the players selected for soccer ability likely are different from distance runners.

Soccer is by far the biggest sport in Kenya. Their dream is to qualify for the World Cup. Running is for those in the rift valley. I'm surprised they aren't better at soccer considering their passion for it.

Wejo: Kenya has also made great strides in basketball this year beating a great team in Africa which was Angola I believe in the African cup of nations qualifiers.

Imimpresssed wrote:

Natural born soccer players wrote:

Surely the Kenyans must come on strong in the last 30 minutes of soccer games? Both teams' players have run about 10 km each at that point and the Kenyans with their altitude genes and thin calves should be fresh as daisies and unstoppable?

Not all Kenyans have same genetics.

And the players selected for soccer ability likely are different from distance runners.

There should be a big overlap. It's already been said in this thread, and many times on this forum, that 'every Kenyan wants to be a soccer player'. The success of Spanish football in the last 3 decades (after decades of underachievement) has been put down by many to being the result of rampant EPO abuse in Spanish sport since the 90's.

If every Kenyan village had a kid who could run 5K in sub 20 minutes before he could walk and was so naturally gifted even EPO was of no benefit (as Canova and many here say) then believe me, every top soccer club in Europe would be scouting for these superhumans and importing them into their youth academies.

Unless...Kenyans dominate distance running not because of some genetic abberation but because there is a doping culture in the sport of distance running that is almost unique to Kenya and a few other countries such as Ethiopia and Morocco.

Thus, the likes of Barcelona would have no advantage in paying money to import Kenyan kids when they could EPO their own Spanish kids (not to mention West Africans who have more explosive power).

wejo wrote:

1-1 tie with Rwanda today

I watched 2nd half. #14 looked pretty good.

0-0 tie with Uganda

They’ve still got a chance as they play Mali next.

And a 2nd round of games

Mali are decent. Maybe they could win the group, but would have to be very lucky with the draw in the play-off. Get a Morocco, Nigeria or Egypt and no chance.

Kenya's already eliminated. Got thrashed by Mali 5-0 and then 1-0 this window.

https://www.bignewsnetwork.com/news/271453702/mali-ends-kenyas-2022-world-cup-dream-with-victory-in-nairobi

Ethiopia looks to be out.

Uganda needs a miracl but isn't eliminated.

A thread to mock us and rub in our haplessness at football. Why am I not surprised?

CJ Ujah wrote:

If every Kenyan village had a kid who could run 5K in sub 20 minutes before he could walk and was so naturally gifted even EPO was of no benefit (as Canova and many here say) then believe me, every top soccer club in Europe would be scouting for these superhumans and importing them into their youth academies..

Imagine thinking that a soccer scout would prioritize looking for someone who can run a 5k over someone who can, I don’t know…play soccer?

The number of top soccer players in history who are renowned for their endurance over their skill is exactly zero. You make no sense.

El Keniano wrote:

A thread to mock us and rub in our haplessness at football. Why am I not surprised?

Why would you say 'us' about a country you've never even been to?

Natural born soccer players wrote:

Surely the Kenyans must come on strong in the last 30 minutes of soccer games? Both teams' players have run about 10 km each at that point and the Kenyans with their altitude genes and thin calves should be fresh as daisies and unstoppable?

This is the misconception that many people have about soccer in general. It is not an endurance sport where the people that are able to maintain a somewhat fast pace for a long period of time will win. Aside from maybe a technically gifted box to box midfielder type that can rely on his tactical awareness and playmaking abilities, in order to make it as an elite player, you must be an explosive athlete first. Being able to cover ground for 90 minutes is important, but not a primary focus in training. If you have ever played soccer, you will know it is more like a workout of 30-50m sprints followed by jog recovery than say a 10 mile tempo run. There are even some positions that require little running at all (goalkeeper, deep lying center back, target man/poaching striker) that rely way more on tactical knowledge with occasional short bursts than being able to cover 10+ km a game.

trollism wrote:

El Keniano wrote:

A thread to mock us and rub in our haplessness at football. Why am I not surprised?

Why would you say 'us' about a country you've never even been to?

I think he lives there and is a citizen lol.

Lol.

Meanwhile. the Kenyan football/soccer federation has been suspended for corruption.

https://www.newdelhitimes.com/kenya-disbands-national-football-body-over-corruption

Coevett bumping old threads because he can’t hide his Kenyan obsession.