Jordan Represents Kenya in International Soccer

The Gothia cup (www.gothiacup) is the world youth cup and contains players from around the world. The tournament is held in Gothenburg, Sweden with approximately 1500 teams with various age groups. There are two age groups that Kenya is entering U-18 and U-14. It all started in April when Jordan decided to play on a club soccer team (Mwenge Football Academy) and was playing various positions. Later after the practice the coach came to Jordan and asked what position he played. After telling him that Jordan played goalie in Canada, Mr. Mohammed Kheri, Ex-National Team Coach was very excited as the team did not have a designated keeper. The coach sat all the players down and stated that they are thinking about sending two teams to Sweden to represent Kenya. There has also been a small write-up in the Standard Newspaper regarding the team composition and travel overseas. The Head Coach of the Team will be Allan Thigo, an Assistant National Team Coach and a player of the Harambee Stars in Africa.
Every Saturday and Sunday the team practices from 10:00 to 12:30. We train on two fields at Aga Khan Academy and Braeburn - Mombasa International School. Over the summer break Jordan and his father will be traveling to Sweden with the team to participate in the Gothia Cup.

Jordan says the following:
"I am kind of nervous because the tournament is U-14 not U-13 and I do not know who all my teammates will be. Also, I have braces I need to protect. On the other hand, I am excited because this is the World Youth Cup and I am representing a country."

With anticipated enthusiasm the McLeans left Kenya for Sweden (July 15-21). Jordan was able to meet the rest of his teammates in the Nairobi airport. It was initially a bit awkward for the Mombasa players as the majority of the players are from Nairobi. Long flights through Amsterdam to Göthenburg. We arrived to the school for the accommodation very early Sunday morning. After a few hours sleep it was a full day. Two training periods for two hours each occured. There was also a quick trip into city centre using the Tram train.

Game 1 - versus Karlskrona AIF (SWEDEN) Score 2-1 Sweden.

The players were very nervous in playing their first game. Jordan still was apprehensive, as he really did not know how the defence would play. Sweden scored the first goal within the first ten minutes on a header from a corner kick. It was a planned play that was successful. Jordan unfortunately stood and watched the ball sail past a defender into the net. Approximately five minutes later Kenya scored a goal from the striker (Savio Solomom) from a quick pass from the forward (Adam Jeneby). In the second half with three minutes left a midfielder in the zone lobbed the ball over Jordan’s head for the winner. Although the players were a bit dejected, they were overall pleased with the their play.

Opening Ceremonies

The ceremony was held at the Ullevi Football Stadium that was the host of the FIVA World Cup in 1958. There are very few words to describe the experience. The players, coaches and three parents were able to be participate in the ceremony. We were the 39th country to be ushered into the stadium. As the Kenyan named was called on the loud speaker – an ultimate rush as we ran onto the field with over 54,000 fans in the crowd. Too observe the players expression and their overwhelming sense of pride was unbelievable. Jordan’s description of the event was a simple statement of ‘WOW – that was great.’ The enormity with all the spectacularity will be a memory of a lifetime for all.

Game 2 – versus Seis-Cero San Lorenzo (Argentina) Score 11-0 Argentina.

This was a very difficulty match for the team as the Argentinean team has won the overall Gothia Cup for the past three years. Needless to say they were an excellent disciplined football squad. Jordan played part of the first half and another player finished the match. For the team, it was a bit demoralizing as they were very outplayed. The evening was quiet as the players were down.

Game 3 – versus Gideonsbergs IF (SWEDEN) 3-0 Sweden.

The affect of the previous days match continued for this contest. Although the teams were generally evenly matched, they lacked enthusiasm. This was the last game in the round play as Kenya placed fourth in their grouping. The standings/playoff format resulted Kenya to be placed on the ‘B’ side.

Game 4 – versus Madla (NORWAY) 3-2 Norway.

This was a very exciting and well fought match. Jordan played his best game and was very confident. The game was scoreless for the first 15 minutes, we had a great chance to score, but the ball hit the post. The Norwegians had put more pressure on our defence – Jordan made two great saves; close range and one off a head in the front zone. Moments later the Kenyans went up the field and struck a goal (Savio Solomon). Unfortunately the opponents scored a goal with one minute remaining in the first half. The battle continued in the second half until ten minutes remaining. We were pressuring the Norwegians and they had cleared a high ball and our midfielder moved forward to take the ball on a one-timer to score a brilliant goal high into the corner (Captain- Asad Abdi). The score was now 2-1 for Kenya. With three minutes left in the match it came to a standstill. An attacker had the ball and was slightly ahead of the defender and Jordan had a decision to make. He slightly hesitated and charged for the ball. There was a heavy collision between all three players. Unfortunately Jordan remained on the ground. The referee immediately blew his whistle due to Jordan’s injury. As he wears braces, he was hit in the mouth that cut is lips in several places resulting in a discharge of a lot of blood. This healed quickly, however, his right knee had received a full impact and required to be assisted off the field. As the team did not have a back-up goalie, a defender went in the net and was scored on immediately; the score was tied 2-2 and the player (keeper) requested to be replaced and was. Within the last two minutes the Norwegians scored and the final whistle blew with a defeat of 3-2.The team was very dejected as they felt they were the better team and if Jordan had not been injured they would have been victorious. As a side note, Jordan was required to go to the hospital and had a x-ray completed, showed clear with minimal strain of the outside ligament.

Jordan's Reflection

"Gothia cup was a great pride, to play for Kenya but we were shown what U-14 really meant as the players were very tall. I was scared at the start because I never even knew my team! We had some amazing and some painful moments . The most encouraging feeling was when the opening ceremonies took place with a crowd of about 54 000 people and the next day the Kenya Football team was on the front of two newspapers! My other great moment was in our last match; we started playing well and were winning. I also disliked in the last match when I collied with two other players and was hit in my face and injured my knee because we may have been able to continue in the tournament. The most regretted moment for the my team was playing Argentina (the previous winners) and we lost convincingly. I think the last match was our trump game because the teams very more even. This was a great experience and I was so lucky to play for the Kenyan team".