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Kenya (National Football)
Major Upsets in the 2009 Rugby Sevens World Cup!
This World cup will go down in history as the best ever because in a few hours, the four teams that will meet in the semi-finals didn't even stand a chance of making it past the Quarter finals, but they did.
The four giants of sevens rugby, New Zealand, England, South Africa, and defending champion Fiji, all lost in their quarter final matches to Wales, Samoa, Argentina, and Kenya, respectively.
New Zealand, who were the favourites in the tournament only conceiving two tries in pool play lost to the Welsh who were more convincing than the Kiwis throughout the game pipping the 2008 IRB sevens series champions by a point (15-14).
But more was to come as England, another crowd favourite took on Samoa. But the Samoans, who were tagged as the underdogs, kept the lead throughout the game, and in the dying minutes a try from Josh Drauniu leveled the score at 26 all which took the game to sudden death.
It was a mistake by the English which led to the try by forward Simaika Mikaele, which took them to the semis.
One of the bigger upsets was the South American giants, Argentina, pipped the IRB series leader, South Africa, through tries by winger Martin Bustos Moyano, who scored a double, both were converted and Argentina managed to scrape through 14-12.
The biggest upset of the day was when the Kenyans, who in the last few years have become the giant killers, met against Fiji, the current World Cup holder.
Kenya has previously beaten all the teams in the IRB sevens series except fij,i and when the two giants met, history was in the making. Kenya was trying to beat the fijians and for the first time in history, make it to the World Cup semis whereas Fiji was making sure it defends its cup and not crash out like the other giants of sevens.
The game began with a bang when Kenyan flyhalf Collins Injera, broke through some weak Fijian defence to score the first try and a few moments later, Biko Adema broke some weak tackles to score under the post taking them to a convincing lead.
Fiji did hit back in the second half with a bollocking run by French based winger Napolioni Nalaga, who broke through the middle pushing away the Kenyans and setting a beautiful try to his supporting winger, Orisi Sareki to score under the post.
Little did they know that that will be the only score they'll make because the Kenyans hit back with two quick tries to defeat the world champions as well as making it to the semis to face the meticulous Argentinians.
The other semi will be decided between the flamboyant Samoans, who will take on the mighty Welsh.
In a few hours, a new World champion will be crowned and the 2009 Rugby World Cup will come to an end. Sevens rugby is bidding to be included in the Olympic games and after all that has happened today, the IOC needs to think twice about why this sport shouldn't be included.
Football authorities blunder knocks Kenya out of the Africa Champions League
Pressure is mounting for the Fifa-backed Kenya Football Federation ( KFF ) officials to quit following a CAF ban on Kenya clubs.
Tusker’s Champions League tie against Eritrea’s Al Tahrir in Nairobi was called off at the last minute as word filtered through that a CAF ban was in force after KFF failed to pay the participation fee.
Former international players have come out demanding the resignation of the KFF office. Celebrated goalkeeper Mohammoud Abbas described KFF officials as a disgrace to football.
"They are liars and their lies have cost the country, players and fans a great deal," Abbas said. "KFF needs to be overhauled and as it is now all clear Sammy Obingo and company are incapable of anything," he said.
Another retired player, Dennis Munyendo, expressed his disappointment, saying Kenya has been held hostage by a "football mafia" for political reasons.
"We need a conference that could bring in the Government to sort out the mess in football," Munyendo said. "For some reason, we have a bunch of people at the federation who Government appears to be unable to do anything about to save the country," he said.
Former Breweries (now Tusker) and Harambee Stars midfielder, Douglas Mutua, wondered what was the officials’ use at the federation if they could not pay CAF Sh455,000.( US $ 6500)
"Tusker spent SH4million to prepare for the match yet KFF could not raise half a million. They should just leave so that we could institute a process to bring in people who can do the right job," Mutua said.
At a separate function, the chairman of a faction of KFF recognised by the Registrar of Societies, Sam Nyamweya, said the Fifa-backed officials were an embarrassment to the country.
"We are leaving a lie that we can have the backing of Fifa and forget the Government. It won’t work. We cannot pretend that all is well and unless we act now we can as well forget about the 2010 World Cup," Nyamweya said.
This episode with Tusker probably reinforces the reason why the KFF is referred to in some quarters as the Kenya Football Farce