The national amputee football team has been backed to come back stronger for subsequent tournaments after missing out on next year’s World Cup in Turkey.

The team’s dream of a third consecutive appearance at the global stage were dashed when they lost 1-0 to Egypt in the fifth-place playoff match on Saturday at the just-concluded Cup of African Nations for Amputee Football in Dar-es-salaam, Tanzania.

“We did our best on Saturday and took the game to the wire until the extra time when they scored. We hit the post five times and were just unlucky on the day,” skipper Dalmas Otieno said.

He lamented the lack of enough training facilities in the run-up to the continental championships, which had prevented the team from preparing fully.

“Lack of training equipment was a big issue. We were actually training with two footballs the whole time until the last day of travel when Musa Otieno (former Harambee Stars captain) donated seven balls to the team,” Otieno revealed.

Part of the process to get the team on track, Otieno believes, is to develop a formal national league to allow players from all over the country to showcase their talents and get regular playing time.

“We first need to get our federation in order and then from there, we can make meaningful progress towards growing the game. We want a national league with possibly 10 clubs from different counties for a start,” he said.

Otieno also spoke about the need for talent scouting countrywide to identify more players to be incorporated into the national set-up and replace some of the aging stars.

“I am planning to travel to Lamu and other coastal regions where we have some very good players. We will also focus on primary and high schools with the aim of growing the sport there,” the captain said.

He added: “Now that we are planning on a national league, we are also going to try and approach some sponsors. ”

Ghana won the African title after defeating 2017 champions Liberia 3-2 in the final. Both the Black Stars and Lone Stars will join Angola, Egypt, and Tanzania as the continent’s representatives in the November showpiece in Turkey.

Kenya made their World Cup debut in 2014 in Mexico where they lost all their group matches before returning four years later in the same country where they reached the knockout stage, losing to Russia.