Somali team to count on diaspora support in Kenya

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NAIROBI, Nov 27, 2009 (AFP) - Somali's national team may be starting the East and Central Africa Senior Challenge Cup, which gets underway here Saturday, as underdogs but the players will be feeling at home away from home.

The relatively young team will be looking to the huge Somali population in neighbouring Kenya to provide support as they battle tough opponents including ten-time champions, Uganda and a twin-pronged Southern African challenge of Zimbabwe and Zambia.

The 24-member team arrived in Nairobi Wednesday after a two-month stint in a secluded police academy in the lawless Somali capital Mogadishu and held their first training Friday at the city's Nyayo National stadium, the venue for the two-week championships.

"It is much peaceful here. We are used to training amidst the frequent exchanges of fire between the rival factions. Sometimes we are forced to dodge the bullets and lie on the ground," the Somali team captain Yusuf Ali told AFP.

Tournament officials expect more than 5,000 fans, mostly Somali nationals residing in the sprawling Nairobi residential district of Eastleigh, to rally behind the team.

"Somalia will be the second home team after Kenya. They will control the second largest fan support after the home side," said Hassan Amir, a Somali member of the CECAFA finance committee.

To add flavour, the Somali team has included two Kenyan-based players in the line-up to the side which begins its campaign against Rwanda on Sunday.

Veteran coach Abdi Farah Ali will be without former skipper and top striker Cisse Abshir, who scored for Somalia in their 1-0 upset over Tanzania in the same tournament last January, but says he is building a team for the future which will not rely on players based overseas.

"Most of the players are very young. We want them to gain experience in order to become a good team for the coming years," he said.