Charles Nyende
11 November 2009
Nairobi — Kenya's ace striker Dennis Oliech says his performance should not be solely judged on the number of goals he scores but his overall contribution to the team.
Speaking for the first time since his re-inclusion on the national team, the Auxerre striker said the important thing was victory for Kenya in their World Cup/African Cup of Nations qualifier match against Nigeria on Saturday regardless of who scores.
"I am hoping on Saturday I can score the winning goal like I did against Cape Verde in 2003 that took us to African Cup of Nations. Maybe even two goals," Oliech said at the team camp at Kasarani.
"Any other person can also score, maybe (Patrick) Oboya, or any other player. What we need is to win and go to the Nations Cup and all Kenyans should come out and support us."
Oliech, who is the leading Kenyan scorer in the qualifiers with five goals, confessed he always had to grapple with the pressure of being expected to score in every Stars game.
"I've been scoring for Kenya since 2002. That has been my job. So the pressure is always on me because I score regularly."
Absent without official leave Antoine Hey, who was replaced by Twahir Muhiddin this week, dropped Oliech for the Tunisia game in October because of poor form. The Auxerre striker has failed to find the net in three consecutive internationals. But Oliech said it was unfair to drop him on that basis as he was still the best striker available in the country.
Regretted change
"I do not see a problem if I fail to score in three games. It happens to any top rated striker. For me, being there as number nine is a bigger impact than scoring.
"Some strikers have not scored for even four years and no one is talking about them. Me, it is just a few games and all are talking. Maybe I have to come out on Saturday and score to silence people," he said.
Oliech regretted the change of coaches with just days to the clash saying it was bad timing.
"We have been working with Hey, but now a few days to the game we are changing coaches. It is not a good thing but we have to put that all behind us and do our best on the pitch," he said.
Captain Musa Otieno shared Oliech's sentiments but said the players were professional enough to focus on the job at hand. Harambee Stars must beat the mighty Nigerians and hope Mozambique fail to win against Tunisia in Maputo in order to secure third spot in Group Two and qualification for the African finals in Angola next year.
The team went through their third day of training under Muhiddin on Wednesday.
Titus Mulama declined to join the team after he was recalled by Muhiddin on Tuesday. According to Muhiddin, the player said he had retired from international football. Instead, Kenyan Premier League top scorer John Baraza has been given another chance to stake a claim on the national team.
Muhiddin said he was still working on his team tactics before naming his side tomorrow.
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