End of the road for Kenya in Africa U-17 qualifier

Kenya on Saturday suffered a 2-1 defeat to Cameroon in the second leg of the Africa Under 17 Cup of Nations qualifier at Safaricom Stadium, Kasarani.

The Rising Stars of Kenya lost 7-0 in the first played a fortnight ago in Yaoundé. The 9-1 aggregate loss effectively marked the end of Kenya’s journey in the junior competition.

Sixteen-year-old forward Eric Mureithi struck in the 11th minute to put Kenya in front, and the Rising Stars brilliantly fended off the Cameroon attack and held on to the score for the rest of the first half.

The visitors, however, came alive in the second half where Stephane Zobo and Abessolo Manga each scored.

German coach Andreas Spier was delighted that the boys had shown remarkable improvement.

“We have played against a very mature team that has been together for about four months now. I have only been with the boys for two months, but I have seen a big improvement in their performance.

“These boys have potential, they need to work harder and with more exposure, they will achieve their dreams,” he said.

Apart from the visitors being taller and more muscular than the home boys, they had immense strength in their midfield and could have scored more goals if they good finishing.

The Kenyans, however, the opposite, displaying great potential but falling short in the defence. Stars’ opener was a result of team work from Mathew Mwendwa and Byron Otieno who combined well to lay a cross in front of the goal mouth for Mureithi to score.

Zobo equalised for Cameroon in the 56th minute after a defensive mishap that had left him with more than enough space to beat Kenyan goalkeeper Ahmed Omar.
The hosts were under siege from that moment onwards as the West Africans stretched their defence on several occasions.