Stars need to bow out with honour
By People Daily, March 27, 2021When Harambee Stars file into the 40,000-seater Stade de Kegue in Lome, Togo on Monday to face the hosts, they will merely be playing for dignity.
After applying kicks of a dying horse, Stars bowed out of the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) penciled for Cameroon, thanks to a least inspiring 1-1 draw with Africa ‘Supermen’ Egypt in a penultimate qualifying match at Moi International Sports Centre (MISC) Kasarani on Thursday night.
Ideally, Kenya had virtually been eliminated even before facing Egypt because, prior to the match that was played under floodlights, they were sitting third in Group G with three points and their only hope of qualification then was twin victories against the Pharaohs of Egypt and the Sparrows Hawks of Togo.
Well, their dream of the first feat never came to pass with the worst of Ghost Mulee’s charges being confirmed the same night in Comoros capital Moroni when the overly gritty home team held Togo to a barren draw.
Before the match, Mulee said that he had anticipated one of the toughest qualifiers ever but was nonetheless bubbling with confidence.
“We know it is going to be a very tough match because Egypt is one of the best teams in the continent with good and talented individual players.
We know that in history, we have never beaten Egypt, but this is football. Who says there can never be a first time for something?” posed Mulee then.
Following the result, Egypt who are leading Group F with nine points have virtually qualified to the biannual competition with second placed Comoros, who have an inferior goal difference, poised to cruise through as the best losers in the qualifying group.
In a nutshell, Kenya and Togo are out of the race and will be meeting in Lome as a formality.
Apparently with nothing to lose against the Egyptians, Stars, who were minus long time skipper Victor Wanyama, Japan-based Ayub Timbe and Mamelodi Sundown’s Brian Mandela Johanna Omollo and Sweden based Eric Johanna, played with a sense of purpose but will certainly rue a litany of missed chances.
Pundits believe that this was one match would have won were it not for ‘diabolical’ officiating in which Egypt were gifted with a dubious penalty early in the match besides Stars being denied what appeared a genuine goal by the otherwise off colour Micheal Olunga.
Some of the men who stood out were left back Eric “Marcelo” Ouma and Joash Onyango who covered almost each blade of the grass on the pitch as they made Liverpool star Mohammed Salah look ordinary in the showdown.
Other players worth mention are Kenya’s scorer of the equalizing goal in the hardworking Bandari offensive midfielder Hassan Abdallah and Anthony “Teddy’’ Akumu of South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns.
Those who watched Akumu on the night will readily agree that he is blessed with power, pace and aerial superiority and may be surprised why he was not given full play time by Stars handlers since the start of the qualifiers.
With Stars out of the qualifiers, the best Mulee can do in Lome is to give the locally based players time to enjoy themselves and, most importantly, give them exposure of playing at the big stage.