Oboya Cup: Foreign scouts monitoring six players

Six lucky grassroots based players could be heading for trials abroad after their talents caught the attention of scouts who have been closely monitoring them in the ongoing Patrick Oboya Cup.

The pioneer of the Cup sponsored by Mozzart Bet Patrick Oboya disclosed that three players from the Dagoretti based Team Ping were under the radar of a German scout while an equal number from Cheza Sports had attracted interest from Austria.

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Ping saw off Cheza by a solitary goal plundered home by December Kisaka to advance to the semifinals scheduled for this weekend at the Police Band grounds in South B. Ping are scheduled to take on MUFYA while Rongai will tackle South B United in the other semifinal duel.

Oboya, a retired Kenyan international who has been from time to time appealing to local coaches to throng in the Police Band grounds and pick the outstanding players said the six are a true testament to the fact that the streets are laced with talented players.

 “Around six players have themselves admiration from foreign scouts who have been attending the matches. Three from Ping and a similar number from Cheza Sports have been identified by scouts from Germany and Austria respectively,” he said.

With the tournament meandering to its final stages, the former Gor Mahia winger expressed satisfaction with the success realized thus far and remained confident of staging it annually as a way of giving back to the society.

“The tournament has been successful so far although we haven’t witnessed the derby rivalries that spice up inter-estate matches. I didn’t expect it to be this big. I am hoping that there will be more editions of the Cup just to keep the youth busy on the pitch rather than wasting time on PlayStation and engaging in crime and other vices,” he said.

Meanwhile, the former Kenya Police attacking midfielder believes that the standards of Kenyan football will go up if the stakeholders will pool their efforts in revamping the top flight. The final is slated to take place on December 12.