Football
Exclusive: Oyugi Warns Firat Not To Gamble With Kenya Squad Against Zimbabwe
Former Gor Mahia coach Bob Oyugi cautions Kenya's Engin Firat against experimenting with the squad in their crucial AFCON qualifiers against Zimbabwe and Namibia, urging consistency for a shot at qualification
Image Credit: FKF Media
Kenya head coach Engin Firat has been warned not to gamble with his squad when Harambee Stars wind up their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers against Zimbabwe and Namibia.
The East African nation will know their fate whether they will qualify for a seventh appearance at the tournament to be held in Morocco when they face the Warriors of Zimbabwe in their matchday five at Peter Mokaba Stadium in South Africa on Friday, November 15.
Kenya will then wind up their group matches against the Brave Warriors of Namibia at the same venue on Tuesday, November 19. Kenya’s qualification hopes took a nose dive during round three and four matches played in October.
Kenya came up against five-time African champions Cameroon in a double-legged fixture losing the first meeting at the Japoma Stadium 4-1 before suffering a slim 1-0 defeat in the reverse fixture at the Stade Nelson Mandela Stadium in Uganda.
The outcome complicated matters for Kenya as Cameroon took a huge stride going top of the group with eight points, while Zimbabwe, who managed to beat Namibia twice in their double-header, jumped to second with eight points. Kenya are third on four points.
Kenya’s qualification chances will now depend on how Zimbabwe will play their two matches, including their game against the Harambee Stars and their final fixture against Cameroon.
Firat Must Avoid Taking a Gamble
Former Gor Mahia coach Bob Oyugi believes Harambee Stars have found themselves in the complicated situation because coach Firat kept gambling with the squad and thus lacking consistency.
Oyugi believes for Kenya to get positive results from the two games, Firat must work out on ways to beat Zimbabwe and Namibia and further said keeping his squad together could have helped him to secure qualification ticket before the last rounds of matches.
“We have gambled to the corner with different squads, and this is the reason we find ourselves fighting to earn the qualification ticket.” Oyugi told SportsBoom.com in an exclusive interview.
Firat should navigate on how to beat both teams. It’s too late to continue discussing Harambee Stars
Bob Oyugi
Oyugi continued: “Such tournaments need stability where players know and understand each other to form a strong team chemistry but it is unfortunate we have been seeing different starting XI at every given game, it can’t work like that if you indeed want to qualify.
“Sticking with one team is the best thing a coach needs to do but Firat has been doing it the other way round, changing players in every match means they cannot have consistency, they will not be able to know how to play together.”
Kenya Team is Very Unpredictable
When asked if Kenya will manage to beat Zimbabwe and Namibia, Oyugi said: “In Kenya, most of our players are naturally gifted.We have dynamic players like Eric Ouma. Our main strength is the “unpredictability”, they can today beat Cameroon,and tomorrow lose to Somalia.”
Asked whether Kenya stands a chance to qualify for the AFCON, Oyugi quipped: “I don’t think so, they had a good start sitting second on the table behind Cameroon, but losing the two games to the Indomitable Lions killed their chances.
“I don’t want to say they cannot qualify, football is unpredictable and if coach Firat fields a strong team and the players play knowing what is at stake, then they can easily win the two games, and Cameroon do them a favour against Zimbabwe.”
However, Oyugi praised Zimbabwe as a high technical team, who have quality players. “Zimbambe is a highly technical, and a mentally equilibrated side while Cameroon had the best strategy to finish at the top,” added Oyugi.
Queried on what strategy Firat should deploy, Oyugi only said:
I wish they could just play well, with a well-balanced team with proper integrations of defense, midfield, and attack. The coach should let our boys just play as if we have nothing to lose
Bob Oyugi
Firat’s 23-man squad saw goalkeeper Patrick Matasi, who plays for FKF Premier League side Kenya Police, axed and replaced by Farouk Shikhalo of KCB. Ian Otieno, who is currently having a great season with Premier Soccer League (PSL) outfit Richards Bay in South Africa is another keeper in Firat’s squad alongside Bryne Omondi of Bandari FC.
Meanwhile, Firat handed U20 national team captain Amos Wanjala his first call up to the senior team. Wanjala was impressive for the U20 team during the just concluded CECAFA region qualifiers for the U20 AFCON.
Dennis is a seasoned journalist in Kenya with over 18 years of experience. Having started his career at Kenya Times Newspaper, Dennis worked for Standard Newspaper for nearly six years as a Sports Writer. At Standard, he was privileged to cover Kenya's national team Harambee Stars outside the country, the biggest of all being the Four Nations tournament in Cairo, Egypt. He also covered the U17 team in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.