‘My morning hashtag is WC2022’ – Mulee confident Kenya will reach World Cup finals

Harambee Stars coach Jacob ‘Ghost’ Mulee is confident Kenya will make it to the 2022 World Cup finals to be staged in Qatar.

The 53-year-old tactician will be in charge of the Kenyan side when they start their campaign in the qualifiers against Mali, Rwanda, and Uganda in September.

Mulee has stated he believes the support they are getting from the current Football Kenya Federation office will drive them to reach their first-ever World Cup.

“If I didn’t have hope [that Kenya will reach World Cup finals in Qatar], then I couldn’t have taken this job, always when I wake up every morning I have the hashtag #WC2022 as a reminder and I know God willing we will be there,” Mulee told Arocho Live on Wednesday.

“I have checked our opponents and with the plans, I have already put in place, and with the support of the federation, I know we can make it and we will qualify.

“I have worked under five Presidents in the federation, I have worked under Maina [Kariuki] and it is when we qualified for Africa Cup of Nations finals in Tunis, I have worked under Alfred Sambu, under Mohamed Hatimy, under Sam Nyamweya, and currently I am working under Nick [Mwendwa],

“I have worked under different leadership but for now, I can tell you since I returned to handle the national team, my work has really reduced, and it is now I can say I am the coach because my focus is to look at the team’s result, to concentrate with the team.”

Asked to explain what he meant he was working now better than the previous regimes, Mulee said: “I have encountered countless problems, I have suffered with Harambee Stars, there is a time we got stuck in South Africa while heading to play against Swaziland.

“We landed in South Africa and took a bus to South Africa and on our way, the players started complaining they were hungry but we did not have anything for them to eat, and there was no official from the federation, I was the only one, so I was forced to use my own money to buy them food.

“Even my assistant coach then Zedekiah Otieno was shocked seeing me using my own money but I told him, that is the situation, if you are the coach, then you must have your own money for an emergency.

“But now, I have come to a federation who have planned themselves well, the office under [Mwendwa] are doing a good job, I am now tasked to do my technical job, and even players and everyone involved wants to go to camp, when we name the squad.

“Even the kitting of the team has improved and not like before when we could use one jersey for the entire year, the problems I encountered before, and when I look now, things have really changed for the better, sometimes I even wonder if I am in Europe.

“Recently going to Togo, we used a chartered flight, and that shows you the effort the federation is making, and it is the reason I am very confident with such support, we will make it to Qatar in 2022.”

On Kenya being drawn against Rwanda, Mali, and Uganda in the qualifiers, Mulee said: “We respect all the teams, we know Uganda have been beating us anytime they want but we will have to change this trend, Rwanda we lead them head to head and we can perform well with good plans.”