In 2024, Harambee Stars took part in various tournaments that included the Four Nations tournament, the 2025 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers, and the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
Across these games, their performances were keenly analysed, strengths pointed out, and their weaknesses highlighted. Since the results were not convincing, their weaknesses and tactical blunders were highlighted. So, what were their outstanding blunders?
Losses to Cameroon
Kenya had a realistic chance to seal a place in the upcoming 2025 AFCON finals from Group J. However, a 4-1 loss to Cameroon in Yaounde in the first leg dealt a blow to their chance of getting a ticket to the continental stage.
Although initial stats showed that Cameroon stood a higher chance of winning the match, Harambee Stars knew, back in their minds, that this game carried a lot of stakes and that this should have called for a decisive fighting spirit. They did not fight hard.
Pre-match stats showed that Cameroon had a win probability of 61.96 per cent, draw had a probability of 24.6 per cent and a win for Kenya had a probability of 13.44 per cent. This should not have been taken as an excuse by Harambee Stars to surrender easily, but it should have acted as a morale booster against the Indomitable Lions.
Before the encounter in Yaounde, Kenya and Cameroon were on par, point-wise, and this pointed to a tight game, but Kenya failed to assert themselves as the four-time AFCON champions ran riot.
Before the first half ended, Kenya had already conceded three goals scored by Vincent Aboubakar in the eighth minute, Martin Hongla in the 39th minute, and Bryan Mbeumo in the 43rd minute. Olunga denied the hosts a clean sheet with a strike that came in the 41st minute.
Things took a worse turn for the East Africans when Christian Bassogog scored in the 55th minute, which sealed a win for Cameroon and a healthy goal difference superiority if the contest in the group could ultimately need a decision to be made after a tie on points with any opponent.
On October 14, Kenya had a chance to right the wrongs witnessed in the first leg, but in a match held in Kampala, Uganda, they lost 1-0. This meant that Cameroon qualified for the 2025 finals, leaving Kenya dependent on the outcome of other games in the group.
Out of a possible six points, Kenya could not get even one, and their chances of flying to Morocco for the finals slimmed even further.
More blunders
The games against Cameroon exposed how Harambee Stars were tactically inferior when they faced teams considered giants in the continent.
The blunders ranged from players’ individual mistakes to the collective solidity of the team and poor tactics by the coach.
For example, the then head coach Engin Firat lined up Amos Nondi as a makeshift right-back, a decision whose weakness was exploited by Cameroon to full advantage. The opener in the first leg was hugely blamed on this tactical move as Nondi struggled to contain Bassogog and conceded a penalty very early in the game.
Firat’s choice to go for Nondi, a utility player, even when he had a natural right-back choice, Gor Mahia’s Geoffrey Ochieng on the bench, raised questions.
The coach also chose to line up Sylvester Owino and Daniel Anyembe at the heart of the midfield with a more experienced Joseph Okumu benched. Some could argue that Firat had a reason to, but critics will point to the mistakes, the margin of the scoreline, and how Kenya struggled, to say that the coach erred big time.
Patrick Matasi’s errors made Kenya’s outing even worse. The former Tusker and Posta Rangers goalkeeper was given the gloves again after missing the qualifier against Zimbabwe, but he was badly exposed by individual mistakes.
His experience, many thought, would help the team in the high-stakes game, but it never helped; in fact, it made things even more difficult for Kenya.
He fumbled when faced with a challenge from Hongla, leading to the second goal for the Indomitable Lions. His bad day in office was even made worse when he found himself out of position, giving Bassogog a good chance to score the fourth for the Central Africans.
After the games against Cameroon, Kenya were left with less probability of getting a ticket to AFCON.
Draw against Zimbabwe
After failing to collect a point from the Cameroon match, Kenya’s chances to participate in the AFCON finals next year effectively ended with a draw against the Warriors from Harare.
In the first leg, Kenya and Zimbabwe shared points from a 0-0 draw in Kampala. Going into the second leg, a game played at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane, Harambee Stars’ fate lay on tight probability.
Kenya only needed to win against Zimbabwe and hope that the Warriors lose their next match against the Indomitable Lions. That mathematics did not end up in Stars’ favour.
With that, Kenya’s run in the qualifiers came to an end with Cameroon and Zimbabwe qualifying for the continental showpiece.
Dressing room fights
Before Kenya left for the Four-Nations tournament in Malawi, there was a scuffle in the camp between Kenya Police defender Aboud Omar and Romanian-based forward Eric Johana.
The two were later omitted from the team, and coach Firat explained the omission.
“I was unhappy about their discipline. Nonetheless, they know how to conduct themselves on the national team. I won’t close the door. Now they can show that they deserve to be here,” the coach told the press.
Although it was not a competitive tournament, the scuffle exhibited a disorganized dressing room, which compounded the team’s problems, with positive results rarely coming out of them.
Given that it was senior and most experienced players who were involved in the disciplinary act, that did not help the matter at all.
