Five Things Harambee Stars Must Do Should They Qualify For AFCON Last 16

NAIROBI, Kenya- Following a 15-year absence from the biggest continental competition, Harambee Stars made a return to the 2019 Total African Cup of Nations, bearing the weight of the country’s hope on their shoulders.

Under the tutelage of Frenchman Sebastien Migne, Kenya impressed in the qualifiers to secure their spot in the 24-team tournament, including a famous 1-0 home win against the Black Stars of Ghana.

Kenya were pooled in a demanding Group C alongside Africa’s top ranked nation Senegal, the Desert Foxes of Algeria and neighbors Tanzania.

An opening 2-0 loss to Algeria was followed by an impressive 3-2 comeback victory over the Taifa Stars, where Michael Olunga joined the football folklore by becoming Kenya’s leading goal scorer at the AFCON finals in his debut appearance at the tournament.

Olunga, who plays for Japanese side Kashiwa Reysol FC, scored twice and Johanna Omollo added another to hand Harambee Stars only their second ever win in the competition, adding to a 3-0 win against Burkina Faso on February 2, 2004.

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On Monday night, Kenya suffered a third successive similar 3-0 loss to Senegal inspired by a Sadio Mane brace as the Lions of Teranga booked their place in the last 16 after finishing second behind league leaders Algeria.

However, not all hope is lost for Kenya who can still make history by qualifying for the next phase of the competition for the first time in their history as one of the best third-placed teams, but that is dependent on the results of the remaining Group E and F matches.

Following the conclusion of Group C matches, SportPesa News has a look at the five things that Migne and his charges will need to change or improve on if they are to make it to the last 16.

STOP RUSHING, POSSESS THE BALL

Out of all three matches that Kenya has played in the tournament, none of them has Kenya had the lion’s share of possession even for a short spell throughout each encounter.

There is no doubt that a lack of ball possession amounts to few or none attempts at goal as we saw against Algeria where all four of Stars shots were wide of the target.

Though it’s easy to understand that the sturdy 6ft 3in physique of Olunga provides a target to aim at, the amount of times that either of his teammates attempt to find him with a long ball is a huge reason why Kenya did not score as often as they would have desired.

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Gor Mahia FC’s Francis Kahata, usually a master at keeping the ball before finding that killer pass, was out of it from the start and that kept him out of the Senegal game and Kenya’s midfield suffered the consequences.

Introduction of speedy wingers Eric ‘Marcelo’ Ouma and Ayub Timbe did well to inject pace and cause a threat down the flanks but their natural style of play does not favor the fight for possession, which in turn leads to plenty of loose passes.

The inability to build play from the back continually exposed the gaps that Stars left up front in the hope of hitting their opponents on the counter, subjecting them to countless attacks launched towards their goal.

TWO STRIKERS ARE BETTER THAN ONE

Despite all the criticism Migne received from irate Kenyans when he made his initial provisional squad, he still opted to leave the experienced Allan Wanga behind and settled for unattached Masud Juma.

Sofapaka FC’s John Avire who scored seven goals in the 2018/19 SportPesa Premier League (SPL) season also received a maiden call-up and has made two substitute appearances in Egypt, whilst top scorer Enosh Ochieng’ was overlooked.

No doubt, Olunga is among the top strikers that Kenya has ever produced, but even global icons like Thierry Henry, Didier Drogba, Samuel Eto’o and many others needed a partner at some point.

Already, Kenya had to go up against tournament favorites and that mere factor makes it difficult to settle for one attacking strategy for the duration of the competition.

Against Algeria, two of the shots were from the Japan-based striker and he only attempted to go for goal because he had no support after that customary Kenyan long ball found him, isolated up front.

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In the game against neighboring Tanzania, Avire came on in the first half to replace Kahata and just his presence allowed his strike partner Olunga to find gaps and room in the opponents’ penalty box.

Eric Johanna is another asset that Migne could learn to use behind his sole striker if he settles for the 4-5-1 formation, in an attempt to be more of a threat going forward.

The Sweden-based attacking midfielder has proved on numerous occasions that he is a perfect aid to Olunga and he did it again, coming off the bench to provide the assist for the third Kenyan goal.

NOT TOO ROUGH, GO EASY ON THE TACKLES

Every time Harambee Stars were exposed or if the opposing team began to launch an attack toward their goal, majority of the times it led to a Kenyan lunging in for a hard tackle that more often than not led to a caution.

Kenya were shown nine yellow cards and one red in the three group games they played, more than any other team in the tournament so far.

The Kenyans committed a record 56 fouls in the group stages and other than breaking up play and the obvious yellow cards, the fouls resulted in three goals conceded by custodian Patrick Matasi.

Matasi did extremely well to save Sadio Mane’s penalty but he went on to concede one from the spot by the UEFA Champions League winner adding onto the Baghdad Bounedjah spot kick that went past him in the opening game.

Whenever the pace in the game picked up or the opponents began stringing together a couple of passes, Stars looked to want to do too much by going in for the tackle, something they will definitely need to work on if they qualify for the last 16.

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SHOW NO FEAR AND ENJOY THE GAME

“I think today (Sunday) the step was too high for us. We missed the sort of experience that we need for this tournament. We were afraid to play. I can accept to lose but not to lose like we played in the first half,” the French tactician Migne said after the opening loss to Algeria.

The lack of experience in the continental showpiece was a factor and it wore off after the first game, but not enough for the Stars to display their full potential on the bug stage.

Young defender Joseph Okumu is the youngest player in the Stars line-up and has proved all doubters wrong by emitting exemplary defensive work, a trait that his older teammates will need to adopt.

Despite not featuring in the tournament for 15 years and feeling inferior to the huge teams in contention, a football game is 90 minutes long and for that designated amount of time, the Stars need to forget where they are.

Everything they worked hard to build on during the 17-day training camp in France should be their focus and not the gargantuan task they face to make every Kenyan proud.

Only three Kenyan players in the starting line-up for the Senegal game play professional football in the domestic SPL, meaning they too have enough talent to go up against anyone.

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The Kenyans must learn to believe that they too have what it takes and enjoy the game, just as they did in the second half against the Tanzanians and they will be assured of positive results.

DO IT FOR YOURSELVES, DO IT FOR KENYA

Though it remains up to the results of the remaining group matches to decide Kenya’s fate, even getting to that point is a much better show than many other nations that qualified for the finals.

The hope of the nation lies on the national team to impress and that can be an unbearable weight for one person’s shoulders but not if the team sticks together and shares the burden.

Kenya has come together in the recent weeks building up to the tournament and the support both at home and from the passionate fans who could afford to attend the matches has been magical.

Stars should feed off the hope, faith and passion that is beaming from their friends, family and football fan from the nation and give it their all at any time that they are called to action.

Any goal, win or commendable effort put in by either of the players is not only a win for them but for everyone who wears the Kenyan heart on their sleeve.

Just as their slogan for the tournament states, ‘Tunaweza’ which is Swahili for ‘We Can’, they too must believe it as much as the country does and anything is possible.