Kenya’s Rising Stars suffered a crushing 3-1 defeat to Tunisia in their CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations Group B clash at Cairo’s 30 June Stadium, a result that leaves their qualification hopes hanging by a thread. Despite taking an early lead through Lawrence Ouma, Kenya’s defensive lapses and loss of concentration allowed the Carthage Eagles to stage a commanding comeback, with coach Anthony Akhulia admitting his side “didn’t play well” and were overrun in key moments.

Kenya went into the fixture at the 30 June Air Defence Stadium in Cairo seeking to recover from their 3-2 opening defeat against Morocco, while Tunisia entered the match desperate to avoid a second successive loss, having fallen 1-0 to Nigeria.

Tunisia’s response was emphatic in the second half, as goals from Omar Ben Ali and Alaeddine Derbali secured all three points for the North Africans. Kenya had struck first in a lively encounter.

Ouma’s golden score

Lawrence Ouma gave the East Africans a 1-0 lead in the 38th minute, pouncing from close range after a smart assist by Hassan Beja. It was a reward for a bright first-half showing by Kenya, who had also impressed in their opener against Morocco.

However, Tunisia found a route back into the game just before half-time through a penalty converted by Farès Bousnina, following a VAR review for a handball by Baron Ochieng in the box.

The equaliser shifted momentum Tunisia’s way going into the break.

The Carthage Eagles emerged dominant after the restart. They introduced substitutes Omar Ben Ali and Alaeddine Derbali, who made an immediate impact. Ben Ali made it 2-1 in the 70th minute with a composed finish from close range after persistent attacking pressure.

Derbali then sealed the victory five minutes from time with a spectacular long-range strike that flew into the top corner, capping a confident second-half performance from Tunisia and ending a four-match winless run at the finals.

Costly slow moves

“First, I congratulate Tunisia, they had a good game, they scored their chances, and they won the match. On our side, we didn’t play well; compared to our first match, we were a bit slow in our movement, our midfield didn’t click that much, and our defence again was caught in areas we couldn’t defend well,” Akhulia said after the game.

“Overall performance, I think we didn’t play well today; it wasn’t a good match for us. We had lapses towards the end of the first half, it happened in our first match, and it once again happened today. Every time we were moving forward, we lost concentration at that moment.

“Basically, I think there were moments we were supposed to rise in the match, but we let Tunisia take control, and that was our biggest letdown, we let them take control of the game. The lapses towards the end of the first half cost us this match.”

Final match

The defeat left Kenya’s Rising Stars with slim hopes of qualifying from the group stage, as they remained last with zero points from two matches.

They will wind up their preliminary matches against Nigeria tomorrow.