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Harambee Stars head coach Engin Firat believes his charges can manage a surprising outcome against Ivory Coast during the upcoming World Cup qualifier.

Kenya and the West African nation are in the World Cup qualifying Group F and will meet in June.

Following how The Elephants have fared in the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations finals, Firat believes Harambee Star can beat them.

“It is still difficult to say how the squads will change before the World Cup qualifiers resume, but the fact is that Ivory Coast are favorites in many things as they have some of the top players in Africa.

“Their subpar performance at AFCON is a result of their inability to handle pressure. Regarding our match, I believe we can pull a surprise on them if we concentrate and have a good plan since I already know their weakness,” Firat said, as quoted by a local publication.

Firat’s take on Gambia

Gambia, another team that took part in the 2023 AFCON finals, are Kenya’s World Cup qualifying opponents. Firat is aware that a new coach might give them a competitive edge before they meet next year.

Tom Saintfiet was sacked after Gambia’s elimination.

“They are a very good team.

“Their current coach has gone, and I believe that the new one will identify new players, and even though they have zero points in the World Cup qualifiers, they may give us problems when we meet,” Firat added.

While commenting on how competitive this AFCON edition is, Firat said Kenya must have at least five or six players plying trade in the world’s top leagues to help Harambee Stars compete at the highest levels.

“When you look at the quality of this year’s AFCON, it remains the highest we have seen in a long while because we have about 200 players playing in the top five leagues in the world.

“As a country, that is what we should aim for. We need to have at least five or six players in the top five leagues in Europe, and then we can think of making significant improvements in our performance,” he concluded.

Kenya have three points after a 5-0 win over Seychelles, although they opened the campaign with a 2-1 defeat to Gabon.