According to FKF media liaison officer John Kariuki, Mugubi has an injury he picked in his teams league match over the weekend.
Origi who has a match on Wednesday for his club will also not be available though no reason has been given over his pending absence. The friendly match falls within Fifa calendar and per the Fifa statutes, clubs are obligated to release players for national assignment.
Belgian based Ayub Timbe is expected by Monday afternoon .Other foreign based players including skipper Dennis Oliech, Patrick Osiako, Brian Mandela, and Jerry Santos have joined camp. The team jets out on Tuesday morning aboard Precision airline.
Meanwhile because of a poor Fifa ranking, Kenya find themselves
in a tough group of the forthcoming Cecafa Tusker Challenge Cup to kick off in
Kampala on November 24.
Uganda, the best team in the Cecafa
[Council of East and Central African Football Associations] region will head
Group ‘A’ and the Kenyans will not only have the daunting task of facing the
defending champion Cranes of Uganda, but also Ethiopia, the only team qualified
for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa in January.
The Cranes have a Fifa ranking of 22
in Africa and 86th in the world. Ethiopia are 28th in Africa and 102 in the
world while Kenya are 39th in Africa and 130 in the world, one of its worst
ever placing.
The fourth team in the group is
South Sudan, who without much competition since being admitted to the Fifa family
early this year, have an African ranking of 51 and 200 in the world. South
Sudan will be taking part in the Challenge Cup for the first time as an
independent country.
Organisers, Federation of Uganda
Football Associations [Fufa] announced the draw at the Serena Hotel in Kampala
on Monday morning. Cecafa secretary general Nicholas Musonye of Kenya was in
attendance.
Moses Magogo, Vice President of Fufa
said the federation had everything in place for a competitive tournament at the
Nelson Mandela Stadium, Namboole in the outskirts of Kampala.
All except one [Djibouti] of the 12
members of Cecafa will be taking part in the event on its third and final year
of sponsorship by East African Breweries Limited through its flag bearer brand
Tusker beer. The final at Namboole will be on December 8.
The second best rated team in the
tournament is guests Malawi who are ranked 27th in Africa and 101 in the world
and are heading Group ‘C’ comprising also Rwanda, Eritrea and Zanzibar.
The pools (Africa - World ranking):
Group ‘A’:
(22 - 86)Uganda
(28 - 102)Ethiopia
(39 - 130)Kenya
(51- 200)South Sudan
Group’ B’:
(29 - 102)Sudan
(38 - 128)Burundi
(41 - 134)Tanzania
(48 - 193)Somalia
Group ‘C’:
(27 - 101)Malawi
(37 - 122) Rwanda
(47 - 192) Eritrea
(unranked)Zanzibar
The Kenya domestic season ended on
Saturday with Tusker retaining the League title. The Kenya national team to the
Challenge Cup is expected to comprise, almost in entirety, the top players who
took part in the thrilling Tusker Premier League.
They will, therefore, have no rest
before embarking on the preparations for Kampala. But meanwhile, Kenya are set
to play an international friendly against Tanzania in Mwanza on Wednesday.
Harambee Stars are programmed to
leave Nairobi on Tuesday. Some foreign-based players are expected to be in the
team.
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