After a 0-0 draw against Zimbabwe in their Group J opener at Stade Nelson Mandela Stadium in Uganda, on Friday, September 6th, Harambee Stars finally registered their first win in the qualifiers after defeating Namibia 2-1 at Orlando Stadium in South Africa on Tuesday, September 10th.
With Firat starting strikers Jonah Ayunga and John Avire, Kenya looked more aggressive against the Brave Warriors and should have taken the lead with only six minutes played when Rooney Onyango played a good ball to Avire, but the former Sofapaka striker hit his effort straight at the hands of goalkeeper Lloyd Kazapua.
At the start of the second period, Harambee Stars continued to attack Namibia and their pressure was finally rewarded in the 58th minute when Avire found the back of the net with a beautifully curled free-kick for their first goal of the campaign. Immediately after the goal, coach Firat summoned his bench and introduced Kenneth Muguna for off-colour Rooney Onyango.
Abuya, who plays for Young Africans (Yanga SC) of Tanzania, doubled Kenya’s lead in the 76th minute after finishing off a well-laid cross from the overlapping Eric ‘Marcelo’ Ouma. Avire was withdrawn for Aboud Omar in the 76th minute as the Brave Warriors missed an open sitter, Deon Hotto, failing to tap home a cross from Shalulile.
Kenya’s last substitution saw Ayunga rested for Victor Omune. In added minutes, Namibia pulled a goal back when Hotto slotted past goalkeeper Byrne Omondi. Despite Namibia’s efforts to salvage something from the game, the East African nation held on to pick a vital win.
Cameroon must think about how to crack Kenya
Kenya will now prepare for a double-header against Cameroon in their next assignment in the qualifiers. The Indomitable Lions will host the first meeting in Yaounde on October 7th before they meet again on October 15th.
Asked what Kenyan should expect when Harambee Stars take on Cameroon, Firat said: “Do you think Kenya is an easy team? Cameroon should think about how they want to crack Kenya, we are not afraid of Cameroon, you saw the boys, how they played before against Ivory Coast, against Russia, against Qatar.
“If you have the boys together, the boys are very united and they believe in each other, we are on our way, let us face the reality what the boys have done this year, they are unbeaten this year, they have won a Cup (Four-Nation tournament) outside Kenya, we have scored 10 goals from the last six matches, we had never won in Namibia but we have won now.”
The former Moldovia coach continued: “I can’t continue to count the success of these boys, whenever you have many wins outside Kenya, and if people cannot realise and appreciate, I don’t have anything to say, the problem is people talk negatively about the team forgetting the team is on the rise, If you don’t pay the coach nine months, but you still keep talking negatively about the team, it really hurts me.”
Firat further admitted his decision to start two strikers, unlike the game against Zimbabwe, where he started two midfielders as strikers, had worked in favour of the Harambee Stars.
“After we lost so many players in the preparations and also the last match we had so many players missing, so I needed to find new solutions especially after the 0-0 draw against Zimbabwe, where our creative players were not aggressive enough to finish the game,” explained Firat.
“Today (Tuesday) against Namibia we had to change the system, we went for two centre forwards to go more physical, to push Namibia especially in the centre, so in the first half I was not happy with our boys because they were not taking the challenges as I wanted.”
Firat continued: “Namibia was a little bit more aggressive and in the half-time break we had a little loud talk with the players and after these we made some changes to stop the problem we had in the midfield especially when Peter (Shalulile) came back he was always free to play the passes deep, after these, in the second half, you saw that in the end Namibia had only long balls and it was not a really problems for us.”
On Kenya’s chance to qualify for a seventh appearance at the 35th edition of the African tournament in Morocco, Firat said: “Like I said from the beginning in this group everything is possible, I don’t believe that Namibia is out of the group, Namibia can even win their next two matches against Zimbabwe, all is possible, therefore, everything depends on the last day (final group) matches, and I hope in the last day everything is in our hand and we can take the ticket.”
Harambee Stars had to contain Namibia’s intensity
Harambee Stars defender Joseph Okumu believes Kenya had to apply more energy especially in the second half to overpower the Brave Warriors.
“It was a tough game, playing away from home, but we put up a good fight and it is a well-deserved win,” Okumu told Flashscore. “Namibia came with intensity, we had to contain the intensity, we came with a little bit more energy in the second half and it helped us to get the win.”
On facing Cameroon in their next qualifier, Okumu, who was the stand-in-captain in the absence of injured striker Michael Olunga, said: “All the remaining games in the group are tough, the group is still wide open and whoever fights more will get the ticket to Morocco.”
Midfielder Richard Odada, who plays for Dundee United in the Scottish Premiership admitted Kenya missed the services of Olunga, who turns out for Al Duhail SC in the Qatar Stars League.
“It is a good win because we had anticipated to win the opener against Zimbabwe but it never happened, it was a big disappointment we didn’t win it, of course Kenyans are demanding more and they deserve the win against Namibia,” said Odada.
On the absence of Olunga he said: “Of course yes, we missed him he plays a huge role in our game, in our first game he should have scored, and even today against Namibia, if he was here and played he could have scored two or three goals, so we hope he will be fit and available for the next game.”
The win enabled Kenya to move top of Group J with four points, the same number as second-placed Cameroon, who settled for a 0-0 draw against Zimbabwe at Nelson Mandela Stadium on Tuesday, September 10th.
