South Sudan Football Association President Amin Francis is set to Meet Bright Star Interim Coach Bilal Felix Kumuyange with reports of offering him the national team head coach role on a permanent basis.

Bilal Felix who has been with the South Sudan national soccer team the bright stars for the last two years after taking the national team to Ethiopia during the 2015 CECAFA tournament which was hosted by Ethiopia had no signed contract.

While in Ethiopia he won 2, drew 1 and lost 1 on a penalty spot kicks after normal 120mins ended goal less out to their neighbours Sudan in the semifinals. He was the assistant coach to Lee who left coaching because of unpaid wages and some technical issues.

He then took over the management of the national team as coach in an interim basis without any signed document. A job which show South Sudan lost all its 2016 African Cup of nation’s qualifiers and last game of that qualifies was against Equatorial Guinea where South Sudan lost 4-0 in away in Malabo which brought a lot of critics both from other media personalities and some members of the public who love following any development about the national team the bright stars.

However the bright star’s future indeed became bright when South Sudan was handed an AFCON qualifier’s preliminary game against Djibouti on the 23rd March 2017 away where they were beaten 2-0 in the first leg but it was a reviving moment for the country and caretaker coach Bilal Felix Kumuyange in the return leg when the bright stars trashed the former 6-0, a game which brought back hope and happiness in the country.

It as well promoted people of all walks to rally behind the bright stars and that win made the bright stars qualify into group C alongside Burundi, Gabon and Mali and of which the Bright Stars lost to Burundi 3-0 in their first group game.

And he coach Felix Kumuyange executed them in a temporary interim basis. After successfully taking the bright stars into group C AFCON qualifying group, here comes the CHAN qualifiers and the SSFA did not look into acquiring the services of a permanent coach but rather resorted to Bilal he summoned the team and successfully beat Somalia home and way in a 4-1 aggregate which took the team to play against the Uganda Cranes.

Since CHAN is a competition meant for domestic players, Bilal Felix played the Uganda cranes at Juba stadium in a goal less draw, however the misfortunes turned after losing to the Ugandan team 5-1 at Star Times Stadium which marks the end of the team’s road in CHAN 2018 to be hosted in Kenya from January 2018.

After the exit of the Bright Stars from that competition, questions were asked of who will be the next coach for the Bright Stars, many would say Felix Bilal Kumuyange would still continue since he already have the knowledge of handling the team both on and off the pitch, and he has the love and spirit to work for the country even without any formal agreement during his tenure for the 4 games preliminary qualifiers in the AFCON and CHAN.

Although some media personalities and even some members in the SSFA would prefer a foreign coach, the question is does the SSFA have the necessary funds to facilitate this foreign coach (Rent a magnificent house, his official Car, and monthly wages though not known). After Lee Sung Jea and Zoran Dordevic left their national team coaching role due to unpaid arrears and so on?

if SSFA has to look around the nation and locally in a simple glance of an eye one would say Felix Bilal Kumoyange would be the perfect person in relation to his previous and current job he did for the national team

In the recently concluded CAF first ever African Football Symposium, a national team coach will be required to have either 2 diplomas or a Bachelor’s degree in any discipline a position Bilal can handle since he is a degree holder in Accounting at the University of Juba.

Source: Insidesportsug