Zedekiah “Zico” Otieno named Sofapaka coach
Zedekiah “Zico” Otieno has been appointed as the new Sofapaka coach.
What you need to know:
- Otieno, 55, who is also a coach instructor has been without a club for six months. Last season, he guided KCB to a fifth-place finish with 64 points, six behind leaders Gor.
- Otieno has also coached Gor, Sony Sugar, and Posta Rangers. He has also been Harambee Stars coach (2011) and assistant coach (2019).
Former champions Sofapaka have moved to salvage their 2023-24 Football Kenya Federation Premier League (FKF-PL) season by appointing former Kenya international Zedekiah “Zico” Otieno as their new coach.
“We are pleased to inform our fans that in a bid to boost the squad and the technical bench, we have appointed Zedekiah “Zico” Otieno to be the head coach of our team and he will be assisted by coach Ezekiel Akwana,” posted the club on its X account on Monday.
It added that Otieno will be unveiled during Sofapaka's home match against Bidco United on Sunday. It is the second time this season that “Batoto ba Mungu”, who lifted the FKF-PL title in 2009 have made changes on the technical bench.
Following a nightmare start to the season, Sofapaka had on October 2 parted ways with Burundian coach Francis Harigingo and his assistant Pablo Nduwimana on “mutual consent”.
The duo spent only two months at the club, during which they failed to register a win in the five matches they oversaw.
Looking to bring that torrid run to an end, Sofapaka appointed Akwana (assistant coach) and team manager Hillary Echesa as head coach and assistant coach respectively on an interim basis.
Akwana was confirmed as head coach a few weeks later, with the club also announcing the arrival of former Mara Sugar coach Francis Xavier as assistant coach.
However, Xavier resigned barely a month citing financial difficulties that the club was grappling with.
Despite the changes, Sofapaka’s struggles have persisted and they are currently ranked 17th with 14 points.
Bottom-placed Nzoia Sugar has 13 points while leaders Gor Mahia have 34 points. In 16 matches that they played, Sofapaka has won four times, drawn twice, and lost 10 times.
Otieno, 55, who is also a coach instructor has been without a club for six months. Last season, he guided KCB to a fifth-place finish with 64 points, six behind leaders Gor.
Otieno has also coached Gor, Sony Sugar, and Posta Rangers. He has also been Harambee Stars coach (2011) and assistant coach (2019).
