Harambee Stars head coach Engin Firat has said he is satisfied that his players prevailed against Russia and were not outclassed as people expected.

Kenya and Russia fought to a 2-2 draw in Turkey during an international friendly on Monday, October 16, 2023. Firat said some people expected they would concede five or six goals, but in the end, he was happy that did not happen.

Firat satisfied

“I know many people expected in these games that we would get (concede) five or six goals, whatever.

“I am happy that we disappointed those people, and it shows that we are on a good way to compete with other big teams, and I hope that we can take all this on our way to both the World Cup and AFCON Qualifiers,” Firat said in his post-match reaction.

However, the former Moldova head coach said his players were at times nervous but grew in the game to the point they were able to assert their authority.

“To play against those top players is really tough, but we played well. We started a bit nervous and made some simple mistakes in the first goal.

“The rest of the way, I felt we controlled the game and had a lot of goal chances that we could score to win. But it’s football; you know, at the last minute, Russia scored, and therefore I am happy with how we played, but we could also have won, I think,” he added.

Onyango lauded

Meanwhile, Firat picked out Gor Mahia‘s Rooney Onyango as one of the players who performed at a satisfactory level.

The coach said Onyango is an example of a player who is ready to perform even though he is not being pushed by the media for inclusion in the national team.

“Like I say always, if someone is working well and really deserves to play, he will play.

“And this is exactly what happened with Rooney. He’s not somebody who’s pushed by the media or other people. He’s only a footballer, and he’s concentrated on football.

“He’s a player who’s got good potential, and he’s ready to work on it. Therefore, I’m happy that we have won one more game,” he concluded.

The draw against Russia was the first game for Harambee Stars since they were beaten by South Sudan in Nairobi in September.