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Juma, who made a name for himself as a goal-getting center forward, has been playing as a winger for Harambee Stars despite it not being his main position.
Harambee Stars striker Masoud Juma has revealed his honest opinion of playing as a winger for the side instead of his preferred center forward position in recent years.
Juma has been playing as a winger for the side for a number of years now, which has left fans and pundits puzzled by the fact that he has been playing out wide ahead of more orthodox wingers in recent times.
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15:04 - 14.11.2023
FOOTBALL Masud Juma on why Harambee Stars players are confident about 2026 World Cup chances
Harambee Stars striker exudes confidence for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers despite injury concerns, aiming for success.
Speaking before the side flew out to Gabon on Wednesday morning for their crunch World Cup opener against the Panthers, Juma insisted that he has no hard feelings toward being played out of his preferred position, insisting that, as long as it was in the team’s best interest, he did not take it as a big deal.
“When you are a professional football player who can play across the front three, (you have to get on with it),” Juma said.
“I am prepared because it depends on the coach’s formation where he wants you to play. For me as a professional football player, you don’t get to choose like ‘I am a center forward and that is all’.
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05:40 - 15.11.2023
FOOTBALL Firat: Harambee Stars not fully prepared for World Cup qualifiers
Harambee Stars' head coach Engin Firat has admitted they are not fully prepared for World Cup qualifiers
“You can go to a team where you have a good number of strikers and the coach believes that with your ability, you can switch, you understand?
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“So, when the coach calls, we are here to do the job and any time the coach asks me to play across the front three, center forward, wing, I do not have any issue.
“For me, the most important thing is the team, I put the team before me, so I want to make sure that, whenever I play, be it wing, striker or whatever, I want to give my best for the team.”
Juma insists that he wants to try and get the best out of Michael Olunga, the team's captain and primary center forward by complimenting him rather than replacing him from the side
“It does not matter whether I enjoy the position or not, the team is the most important thing. When you look at the team’s strikers, Olunga (Michael) is there and also, I want to be there, so if the coach gives me the opportunity, I take it and I enjoy.”
Juma made his debut for Kenya in 2017 against Sierra Leone. He has since become a mainstay playing as a center forward in some games especially in Olunga’s absence, but has also been playing out wide, with head coach Engin Firat in awe of his ability to take men on from one v one situations down the flanks.
He is expected to be a crucial figure over the next two matches.
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