Brotherly love: How Sichenje influenced fellow Kenyan’s loan move to …

NAIROBI, Kenya, August 11, 2026 – Newly-signed Charlton Athletic midfielder Timothy Ouma says his fellow Kenyan, Collins Sichenje, played a profound role in his move to the Addicks.

The 22-year-old says Sichenje told him good things about the club, which strung at his heart and left no doubt about his next destination.

“He told me to come here, it’s a great club. We are together with him…so for sure, it’s going to be a little bit easy for me to get everything done and keep everything moving because I have someone who knows me well,” the former Nairobi City Stars attacking midfielder said. slot-chickenroad.org

Ouma further talked up his longstanding friendship with the Kakamega High School alumnus, describing him as his closest buddy in the national team, Harambee Stars.

“It’s been such a long friendship…even before he went to Sweden. Every time we’re meeting in the national team and everything, sharing a room,” he said.

Ouma completed his loan move to the English Championship side on Monday evening, from his parent club, Czech giants Slavia Prague.

The midfielder, who spent the last season on loan at Polish side Lech Poznan, said he is eager to get going at his new club.

“I ended up here in London now. I think I have to be grateful to be here. Every competition is different. Every country is different. So as long as you’re pushing and everything, everything comes in places,” Ouma said.

His message to the Addicks faithful is simple: ‘looking forward to meeting all of you.’

“I think I’ll just bring the normal things. I’ll give my all, my solace, do the best, help the team to achieve whatever they want to achieve. I want to see them, I want to see how the crowd is, see all those supporters cheering up for every tackle, every duel, every goal,” the Harambee Stars anchorman said.

Should he strike a chord with the hearts of the fans and the management, Ouma may well find a permanent home at Charlton Athletic.

With the loan deal containing a buy clause, the ball is in Ouma’s court to work hard on the pitch to extend his stay with Nathan Jones’ side.

Bafana Bafana are back in action this month as they begin the road to the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations finals, writes Nick Said.

Bafana Bafana begin their road to the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania this month as a new post-World Cup era begins for the national side.

They have been drawn in a pool they will expect to qualify from, though it will not be easy with one team having already booked their place at the finals.

Bafana have been drawn with co-hosts Kenya, led by South Africa’s record goalscorer in international football, Benni McCarthy, a difficult Guinea side and minnows Eritrea.

With Kenya assured of a place, it means Bafana, Guinea and Eritrea are in a straight shoot-out for the other spot from the pool.

The qualifiers will take place in three FIFA international windows – 21 September to 6 October, 9 to 17 November and 22 to 30 March 2027.

The 24 teams that qualify will compete in the finals, which are scheduled to take place from 19 June to 17 July next year.

Bafana qualified for the last two editions, earning a bronze medal at the 2023 finals but going out in the round of 16 in Morocco earlier this year.

They have not earned their place at three successive finals since 20042008, such has been the patchy history of the side over the last two decades.

Expanding the competition from 16 to 24 teams has helped the current side. Here is a look at their three qualification group opponents.

KENYA
World ranking (June 2026): 109
Previous AFCON appearances: 6 – last in 2019
Best finish: Group Stage (six times) Kenya are led by former Bafana star McCarthy, which will add spice to the fixtures they play, even if, for the East African side, they are nothing more than preparation games to get them ready for the finals.

There is a South African thread that runs through their technical team, with Vasili Manousakis, who was an assistant coach with McCarthy at Cape Town City and AmaZulu, also involved. Former Bafana gloveman Moeneeb Josephs is also the goalkeeper coach and there are various other South Africans involved on the fitness and analyst side.

Certainly, they will know all about Bafana Bafana. Kenya have often been viewed as a country packed with potential, but they never seem quite able to get it together.

Their highest-ever ranking was 68 in the world in 2008, and the recent retirement of stalwarts like Victor Wanyama will not have helped, though he had been out of the national frame for some time.

They have a few players plying their trade in the lower leagues in England and around Europe, but not really what you would call household names.

They will be a tricky opponent and fired up to do well against Bafana, who they have met four times before. South Africa have won three of those to go with one draw.

GUINEA
World ranking (June 2026): 81
Previous AFCON appearances: 14 – last in 2023
Best finish: Runner-up (1976) Guinea did not qualify for the last finals in Morocco but were at the three prior to that and are a dangerous side.

They will likely be the most serious challengers to Bafana, who do not have a promising record against the West African team.

They have clashed on four previous occasions since their first meeting in 2006, and Guinea have won two of those to go with a draw and a single Bafana victory.

And that single Bafana success was in the African Nations Championship finals last year, a tournament for home-grown players only, so you can question whether it really even counts.

The biggest dangerman for the Guineans is no doubt Borussia Dortmund striker Serhou Guirassy (below), who is one of the best forwards in the Bundesliga.

They have several players in France and Spain, and even defender Mamady Cissé, who plays for Atlético Mineiro in Brazil. They are coached by the Portuguese Paulo Duarte, who does not have a great record against Bafana, having faced them four times before while with Burkina Faso and Gabon. Bafana have won three of those games and drawn one, scoring 10 goals in the process.

ERITREA
World ranking (June 2026): 184
Previous AFCON appearances: None
Best finish: None Eritrea have never been to the Africa Cup of Nations before and had largely withdrawn from international football until recently.

But they entered the 2027 qualifiers and defeated Eswatini over two legs to book a place in the group stages. They are certainly the minnows in the pool, but will be unknowns for all teams and that gives them a slight edge.

Their talisman is undoubtedly Ali Suleiman, who plays for Kahrabaa Ismailia in the Egyptian league and was actually born in Saudi Arabia.

He scored three goals for the side against Eswatini and is a consummate finisher when given the chance. The team is coached by the Egyptian Hesham Yakan, who was a stalwart defender for Zamalek back in the day and also played 64 times for the Egyptian national team.

Bafana Bafana have never faced Eritrea in international football and, while they will expect to win both matches, neither game will be a given.

The post Bafana Bafana: Road To AFCON appeared first on SportsClub.

Very few, if any, in the Springbok Women squad were as pleased as Aseza Hele after she made a successful return to the Test arena on Saturday in Suva, where South Africa delivered a commanding performance as they defeated Fiji 55-12.

For Hele, who played in her 33rd Test, the return to the green and gold after injury was as good a feeling as making her international debut way back in 2018.

She last played for South Africa in the Women’s Rugby World Cup in England almost a year ago and missed the early part of the season due to a hand injury that required surgery.

Now, back to her best, the Hermanus-based loose forward cannot wait for the second Test match this weekend, to be played at Churchill Park in Lautoka, where kick-off is scheduled for 13h00 (03h00 SA time) on Saturday.

“Yes, it was great being out there again,” Hele said from Nadi, where the Bok Women are based for the week.

“Coming back from rehabilitation, one is not always hundred percent sure how the body will react in a match situation. So I was pleased the way it went, given that I did not play for a while.

“Once the match started, I felt really comfortable and I could just focus on doing my job out there, which was great. It felt great to get back in the physical part of the game and I felt like I was myself again, so very happy with that aspect of it.”

Hele had 16 ball carries and made 127 metres, and her physicality was a menace to the Fijian defence.

“My fitness and conditioning was good – in these type of games you need to be at your best when it comes to fitness, so I am very happy the way it played out. There were some nerves at the beginning, but that is normal,” she said.

Hele was one of several players who did not start in the home series against the USA last month, so she could relate to those starting for the first time in a while: “I was happy for those who started for the first time in a while to be given that opportunity as they could step up and show what they are capable of and they did. From a personal point of view, I just went out there to make sure I fulfil my role to the best of my abilities.”

Hele is expecting the second Test to be as challenging as the first.

“It was tough out there, the wind was quite strong at times and when you play Fiji, you need to expect the unexpected,” she said.

“The crowd also goes wild when they have the ball, you can hear the noise going up and the pressure building from the crowd when they are in possession.

“It was most pleasing though that we executed our plays very well, we stuck to our guns and did not allow them to dictate matters. We came into this match well prepared, we worked hard back home and came here with good clarity on what we wanted to achieve. From that perspective, we really did well.”

The Test at Churchill Park will bring new challenges, she warned: “We know they will come back stronger. But that is good for us too, as we respond well to pressure. We also gained confidence from our own performances and we saw our hard work being rewarded. We stuck to our system and the system rewarded us.”

Hele was part of the team that suffered a gut-wrenching defeat in the only other time the two teams met – at the 2022 Women’s Rugby World Cup in New Zealand – when Fiji scored in the final play of the match to snatch the win.

“We have buried that one now,” she said. “That defeat in New Zealand was still hurting and with this performance, we buried that for good.”

Another feature of Hele’s play, also came through in Suva – playing with a smile. And she had good reasons to do so.

“You don’t know how much you will miss that jersey until it happens, but I just realised it again,” said Hele.

“To be back in the team made the rehab worth the while. The mental side of the rehab is always the toughest. Patience is often a virtue as sometimes rehab has it ups and downs and for me it is 90% mental, 10% physical. So I am very pleased that I could be back doing what I love, playing for my country and inspiring others.”

The team for the second Test will be named on Wednesday. The squad will be without Lerato Makua and Eloise Webb, who picked up injuries last week, but could be bolstered by the return of team captain, Babalwa Latsha.

Issued by SA Rugby Communications

The post Gratitude and joy as Hele makes successful return appeared first on SportsClub.

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