Gor Mahia will host Cameroonian side New Star Doula in a CAF Confederation Cup playoffs – first leg tie in Nairobi this Sunday at 4 pm.
The fixture will determine the 16 teams that will participate in the Confederation Cup group stage this season.
Gor Mahia will be looking forward to better last year’s performance in this competition. After poor performances in the continental scene between 2011 and 2016, Gor Mahia became the first team from Kenya to qualify for the Confederations Cup group stage last year after eliminating South Africa side – SuperSport United.
Progress to the next round will guarantee Gor Mahia a further six games in the continental scene in addition to the financial windfall that accompanies it.
Gor Mahia have previously played the famed Canon Younde in two fixtures in their only encounter with Cameroonian teams in this competition. In 1979 they met in the final of the then African Cup Winners Cup with the Cameroonians beating K’Ogalo to lift the trophy.
The two sides met again in the second round of the Africa Champions Cup in 1992 with the current Assistant Coach Zedekiah Otieno’s away goal proving enough to eliminate the Cameroonians and book K’Ogalo a quarter-final berth.
Gor Mahia goes into this tie on the back of a generally impressive home form in the continent. They have only lost once in their last eight home matches but will have to be wary of the Cameroonians who have progressed so far courtesy of an impressive away form. At this stage, winning at home will be imperative for Gor Mahia.
Coach Hassan Oktay will have to do without the services of suspended central defensive duo of captain Haron Shakava and Joash Onyango, and will look towards Charles Momanyi, Pascal Ogweno and Joachim Oluoch to fill the void.