After failing to qualify for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals, head coach Engin Firat has identified a major problem he says Harambee Stars are suffering from.
Following a 1-1 draw against Zimbabwe in Polokwane, South Africa, on Friday, November 15, 2024, Kenya’s dream of reaching the finals came to an end.
Now, Firat says Kenya’s main problem is a lack of ability to score goals and that he wished he would have solved it earlier. He also analysed the game and said both teams gave a fight.
“The game played out as we expected. Zimbabwe, as we knew, first stayed deep, playing long balls to their fast players on counterattacks.
“I think both sides gave a big fight, but it’s like a red line for us that we don’t use our goal chances and are also injured like we saw with Joseph Okumu.
“It’s clear that we have a goal-scoring problem that we need to find a solution to if we are to move up to a higher level. I wish we could have solved the problem better earlier, but we couldn’t change it,” Firat said in his post-match conference.
The Turkish tactician said he understands the frustration that came with the failure to qualify for AFCON finals but there is nothing he can tell his players after the draw that saw The Warriors qualify.
“There is nothing I can say to the boys. They tried everything till the last second. They deserved more. In the end, this is football and you can’t change everything.
“I can understand the frustration that comes with that back home as we wanted to go there. As I said, there’s nothing I can say about the players who did their best,” he added.
At some point, the coach sounded arrogant saying that Kenya should stop dreaming because he had identified the problems with the country’s football before.
“But for us maybe we have to realize what we have and stop dreaming. We know about the many times I have had a problem with our football. It’s even getting worse. We need to look at reality and instead of all we want, ask with what.
“Things on the outside can always change, but our record in this tournament explains everything,” he concluded.
Cameroon and Zimbabwe qualified for the finals while Kenya and Namibia, the team they face next, missed out from Group J.
