Kenya Football .:. Story - Matano Predicts 2010 Tough Kpl Season

An unfazed Robert Matano has thrown down the gaulent to all pretenders of the Kenyan Premier League with a stern warning 'Watch for us, We are coming with a big bang,”

Speaking in an exclusive interview with the KenyaFootball.com , the Sofapaka head coach revealed that his team will be going for nothing short of retaining the championship. “We are the reigning champions and we are prepared to play any team anywhere,” said Matano.

Matano says the team’s bad experience in Ismailia that was occasioned by poor reception and biased officiating has not dampened the team’s spirit coming back to the local league. “That we managed to contain Ismailia in their home turf is an indicator of how well we played,” said Matano. The team’s main undoing was failure to convert two clear chances in the first half of the game, he says.

Sofapka fell 2-0 to Egyptian side Ismailia last Saturday to crash out of CAF Champion’s League having won the Kenyan Premier League on their maiden appearance last season. But the team’s minimum target is to post a repeat performance of last season in the league. However, there will be no respite for Matano’s men as they have what appear to be very tough fixtures lined for them in the coming three weeks beginning with last Saturday's 2-1 defeat by Kenya Commercial Bank at Nyayo National Stadium.

Their first home match will be against Mahakama on March 14th before hosting last season’s third placed team Thika United six days later. But the toughest test to Sofapaka’s credential will come from earlier pacesetters Tusker FC with whom they face off on March 27th away perhaps at the brewer's den in Ruaraka.

Matano is however optimistic of picking up more points on the road having already taken the scalp of Sher Karuturi in the season opening match away in Naivasha. “My team was criticized of not winning too many away matches, but on the contrary we didn’t lose too many either. In fact we only lost one game away to Bandari” he says.

Having confounded all skeptics last season, Sofapaka will be the team to beat, a fact that the veteran coach knows only too well. But Matona remains confident that his team is up to the task noting that despite signing several new players in the close season his revamped outfit will quickly gel into a title winning combination.

No.

TEAM

Pts

Ulinzi

Tusker

SofapakaFC

Gor

Mathare

Sher K. FC

Thika Utd

-3

AFC SC

-7

Sony FC

-2

W. Stima

-6

NBI City S

-6

Rangers FC

-9

KCB

-8

Red Berets

-5

MahakamaFC

-7

Chemelil

-10

Total

346

110

126

110

339

456