Nairobi — "They have told me there will be no friendship and I have told them as well that there will be no friendship," says Harambee Stars skipper, Michael Olunga, as he prepares to lead Harambee Stars out in a friendly match against Qatar at the Al Janoub Stadium in Doha on Thursday evening.
The Stars skipper plays his club football in Qatar with league defending champions Al Duhail and he will be facing a maximum of five of his teammates, including club captain and strike partner Almoez Ali in Thursday's match.
For a player who has won the golden boot twice successfully in Qatar, he will be coming up against a backline familiar to his game and one of his teammates, Youssef Ayman, also being part of the Qatari defense.
"It is going to be an interesting game going back to a familiar territory. I brush shoulders with most of the players week in week out and it is going to be a good friendly match to play. They told me there will be no friendship and I told them as well there will be no friendship. I am looking forward to the match," said the skipper.
Olunga says playing against a side ranked higher than Kenya and with lots of experience will be crucial especially ahead of November's World Cup qualifiers, believing this will aid them in identifying areas they need to work on.
"Qatar is a quality side if you look at their FIFA rankings. If you want to compete at the highest level you have to play these kind of games and if you look at our World Cup qualification group, we need to compete in such matches to gauge ourselves," Olunga says.
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He adds; "It is going to be a fantastic game being played at a World Cup venue and it is also going to be an amazing opportunity for the boys to compete in such kind of facilities."
Meanwhile, the Stars skipper says there has been a lot of development and growth in the team since the start of the year when they had their first friendly match against Iran and believes more is in store for them.
He has also lauded the hunger and determination shown by younger players who have come through the squad, saying the transformative period has been positive and is looking forward to brighter days ahead.
"We sat out for a long time due to the FIFA suspension but thankfully we are back now. The team has gradually improved and we are trying to build a formidable team for the World Cup and AFCON qualifiers. We have a lot of players coming in and the coach is trying to get the best out of all of us and I know we will get the best strategy moving forward," noted Olunga.
After Qatar, Stars will play South Sudan at the Nyayo National Stadium on Tuesday while two other games have been lined up in the October window before the qualifiers for the World Cup start in November.
