2014 Standard Chartered Road to Anfield Set for Weekend

The 2014 Standard Chartered Road to Anfield 5-aside amateur football tournament will kick off tomorrow, Saturday, at the Kenya School of Monetary Studies (KSMS) grounds in Nairobi.

The tournament which is in its 2^nd edition after the inaugural leg last year will see 32 teams battle it out for a the Road to Anfield trophy which will guarantee them an all-expense paid trip to Liverpool’s Anfield Stadium in May. The teams have been training all week ahead of the high stakes tournament that will be played on Saturday and Sunday when the finals will be held.

Among the teams which will compete for this year’s honours include favorites Standard Media Group headed by sports writer Erick Ochieng, Nation Media Group, Royal Media Services, Mediamax, KBC, Capital Group and Radio Africa, all which are media teams and will face 25 other teams drawn from Standard Chartered Branches.

The group games will be played in a round-robin format with 8 groups of 4 teams each. Winners and runners up of every group will advance to the knockout stage with respective winners moving to the quarters, semis and finals which will be played on Sunday.

Every team will have seven players, 5 active and 2 reserves, with each game lasting 4 minutes each half.

And That's thesteifmastertake!! 

Kenya Premier League WEEK 5 Preview: Leopards Face Stern Test at Sofapaka as Gor Mahia Aim to Extinguish Western Stima

Bundled out of continental football at first round attempt, wounded Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards return to Kenya Premier League assignments in full time this weekend. The two, arguably the biggest clubs in Kenyan football, could not muster their way around their more established opponents from South and North Africa with Kogalo suffering an embarrassing 5-0 defeat against Esperance in Tunis while AFC Leopards battled to a 2-2 draw against SuperSport United but which wasn’t enough to give them progress into the advanced stages of the CAF Confederations Cup.

To make it worse to the Leopards, they suffered a 1-0 defeat to a winless Muhoroni Youth outfit, a result that finds the 13-time league winners second from bottom with three games under their belt. James Nandwa’s side face a tricky tie in the form of Sofapaka on Sunday in Machakos. The Batoto ba Mungu lost 1-0 to Chemelil last Sunday but have had a far more steady start to their season as compared to Ingwe and they will be confident to get something off AFC who look to be stumbling under the starter’s gun. Another defeat for Leopards and coach Nandwa may as well face the sacking if recent speculations are anything to go by.

Reigning Champions Gor Mahia on the other hand have had a perfect start to their domestic league season winning their opening two matches and victory against surprise league leaders Western Stima on Sunday could move them to the top of the standings should other results go their way. Gor have kept a clean sheet in both matches and will be favorites to take the three points against Stima who have a porous defense that has conceded 5 goals in four matches. 

The other match on Sunday will see Tusker go for their third win on the trot against a winless KCH as second-placed Chemelil aim to pile more misery on bottom-placed Nakuru AllStars who are the only team to get off the mark.

On Saturday, Sony Sugar will be looking to get back to winning ways when they host Ken Kenyatta’s KRA in Awendo while Bandari and Thika United who both dropped down the log with losses clash in Coast. Stalemate-masters, Ulinzi Stars, host Mathare United in Nakuru with the Soldiers looking for their first three points of the season having drawn all their first four matches.

And That's thesteifmastertake!!

Heineken Launches 2nd Edition of the Foosball Tournament

"Team Masters" of Amos Abuga and Steve Steifmaster Ayoo at the Foosball Challenge

For the second year running, international beer brand, Heineken, will give its consumers an opportunity to experience Live screening of the UEFA Champions League through the Heineken Foosball tournament.

The tournament which will target football fans and the brand’s consumers in East Africa will see teams of two compete to represent their bars and clubs in the national finals slated for April 30^th. The winning team will be flown to the legendary island of Ibiza in Spain where they will experience the ultimate Champions League finals live screening alongside VIPs from across the world.

“We aim to create exciting UEFA Champions League experiences for our consumers by engaging them in a way only Heineken can do. The Heineken foosball tournament aims at challenging our consumers to demonstrate their skills and talent,” said Heineken East Africa General Manager Koen Morshuis during a media launch in Nairobi.

This 2^nd edition of the tournament will be held in various premium nightlife spots across the country with participating teams standing to win instant and exclusive UEFA Champions League merchandize during the early stages of the competition. Some of the outlets include Taidys and Black Diamond in Nairobi, Sheba and Kahamas in Coast, Hush Club in Kakamega, Taidys in Nakuru, Dallas Inn in Kisii and Samba Marina in Kisumu among others.

Foosball is a game where opponents stand on either side of a table fitted with miniature footballers, goals and ball. The aim of the game is to outscore you opponent within a given time frame.

Meanwhile a team comprising of pundits Fred Maingi and Alex Isaboke won the foosball media challenge on the night defeating “Team Masters” of Steve Steifmaster Ayoo and Amos Abuga 10-5 in the finals. The two teams strolled into the finals whooping their opponents with poise and relative ease to set up a tense finale but it was “Team Maingi” who held their nerves to emerge the media champions.

And That's thesteifmastertake!!