The South African coach announced his provisional squad for the tournament to be co-hosted by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania on Wednesday, July 3rd, with Kakamega Homeboyz striker Moses Shumah, who topped the FKF Premier League scorers chart, leading the line.
Shumah, who finished the 2024/25 Premier League season as the top scorer with 17 goals, was named alongside Emmanuel Osoro of FC Talanta and Ryan Ogam of Tusker FC.
Osoro finished the season with 16 goals and was part of the Harambee Stars squad that played against Chad in an international friendly during the last FIFA international break. During the second friendly, Osoro scored one and set up the other as Kenya defeated Chad 2-1, to hand McCarthy his first win as Harambee Stars coach.
For Ogam, he had a great start to the season, scoring 15 goals for the Brewers at the halfway stage, before he picked up an injury which saw him miss most parts of the campaign. However, he returned at the closing stages but was not able to catch up with Shumah.
Michira has proved himself this season
According to Shabana official Stephen Kiama, Michira, who scored 12 Premier League goals and finished as the top scorer in the domestic FKF Cup with five goals despite the Kisii-based Glamour Boys being eliminated earlier, had done more than enough to deserve a place in McCarthy’s CHAN squad.
Kiama went ahead to fault McCarthy and Harambee Stars Technical Director Francis Kimanzi for looking down upon the young player, while going for some players who were unfit having been out of action for a while owing to various injuries.
“We really don’t understand who did the selection of the CHAN squad. Was it really done by McCarthy himself or Francis (Kimanzi), because for any serious coach or Director looking for local talent for such a tournament for locally based players, there is no way you can skip the name of Michira,” Kiama told Flashscore.
“The young man has proved himself this season, he just lost the Premier League Golden Boot by a difference of five goals, the winner managed 17, he scored 12, he was the top scorer in the domestic FKF Cup with five goals, so what else why the selectors for the CHAN squad looking for, if not what Michira had achieved this season?
“It is very unfortunate that the selectors did not do their homework very well, for example, they have called up Tusker’s Ryan Ogam, who was out injured for almost the entire season, he only returned to training just a few days before the league concluded. He definitely lacks match fitness, and then you want him to be fit and be ready to play at CHAN.”
Kiama continued: “What exactly were they (selectors) looking for in terms of picking the squad? If you can’t select a player, who scored 12 goals in a single top-flight league, five in the domestic Cup, and he had a couple of assists all round, then we may not know what we want to give the national team to succeed.”
Kiama further explained that if Michira could not make the starting role at the CHAN, then he should have been considered even for a bench role, or even as a substitute during the tournament.
“First, they should have considered him even for the provisional squad, monitor the player and then because I know he is good enough, since I watch him week in week out, then the best they could have done afterwards, is have him in the squad as some of the players, who will be on the bench,” offered Kiama.
Apart from Ogam, other players, who are recovering from respective injuries but made the shortlist by McCarthy, include Michael Kibwage (Tusker), Benjamin Nyamawi (Bandari) and Matthew Isogol (KCB). Apart from the 12 league goals, Michira managed eight assists.
“What they have done is simply killing the morale of the player, the young man has always wanted to play in CHAN, he always kept telling me he wanted to be the top scorer and play in the CHAN for the country, but now they have overlooked him, it is very sad, I have not talked to him because I know he is disappointed with what happened,” explained Kiama.
In a recent interview, Michira revealed his desire to earn a call-up to the national team by saying: “Being called up to the national team is everyone’s dream, who plays football. I’ll be very happy if I get the chance to represent the country. I will do whatever it takes because I believe in myself. You get called up based on the form you have shown with your club in the league.”
He was part of the Harambee Stars squad that participated in the invitational Mapinduzi Cup held in Zanzibar early in January when the team was under the tutelage of Kimanzi, who had stepped in on an interim basis, following the sacking of Engin Firat.
Shabana fans threaten to boycott CHAN
A section of Shabana faithful have threatened to boycott the CHAN tournament unless Michira is included in the squad. Reacting to the omission, Kimani Nyangena said: “We will boycott CHAN if Brian (Michira) is not included in that squad. What are the merits? The reason why Kenyan football can’t grow.”
Ndemo Stephen wrote on his social media pages: “I always speak my mind. It’s ridiculous that Brian (Michira) misses the national team squad for CHAN despite an excellent season with the club.
“The attacking midfielder is among the top two midfielders nationally when it comes to league goals scored this season, having 12 to his name. The midfielder not only scored but also assisted, having eight league assists season-long.
“Show me any other midfielder from the concluded league, who had a 20-goal contribution? Michira, despite the early elimination of Shabana from the FKF Cup, still bagged the top scorer’s award with five goals. Unless the national team is not about rewarding meritocracy and consistency.”
He concluded: “If the national team needs players with a winning mentality and champion mentality, we wouldn’t miss at least two players from the giant slayers, Nairobi United FC - who not only dominated the National Super League (NSL), but also lifted the FKF Cup after beating Gor Mahia.
“How do those players feel when they see the provisional squad dominated with players from teams they eliminated?”
Harambee Stars will play their Group A matches at Kasarani Stadium. They have been drawn alongside Morocco, Angola, DR Congo, and Zambia. Kenya will play their opening fixture at 15:00 local time against the Democratic Republic of Congo at the same venue.
After opening against DR Congo, Kenya’s second fixture will be against Angola on Tuesday, August 7th, before they face Morocco on Sunday, August 10th and wind up their group fixtures against Zambia’s Chipolopolo on Sunday, August 17th.
This will mark Kenya’s debut in the CHAN tournament. While the country last featured in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Egypt, where the team exited at the group stage, this time Harambee Stars will be eager to make a deeper run, especially with the added motivation of playing on home soil.
