Harambee Stars Coach Engin Firat monitors Timothy Ouma (right) and Amos Nondi during a training session at Kenya Police Sacco Stadium on October 9, 2024.
Harambee Stars coach, Engin Firat, is under pressure to redeem himself when Kenya face Cameroon in the return leg of their Group ‘J’ match of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers tomorrow.
On Friday night, Kenya lost 4-1 to Cameroon at the 42,000-seater Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in Yaounde. Kenya will host the five-time African champions at the 42,000 capacity Mandela National Stadium in Kampala behind closed doors, from 4pm (Kenyan time).
Coach Firat has come under attack over his squad selection which saw Kenya suffer a heavy defeat just weeks after beating Namibia 2-1 in the first leg of their Group ‘J’ match on September 10 away at Orlando Stadium in Johannesburg. The 54-year-old tactician has come under sharp criticism for handing a starting berth to Kenya Police custodian Patrick Matasi. The 36-year-old’s below-par performance cost Kenya victory in the game.
Many thought Kenya Commercial Bank’s goalkeeper Bryne Omondi who started for Kenya in the barren draw against Zimbabwe on September 6, and had a man-of-the-match performance against Namibia on September 10, would start ahead of the ageing Matasi. Cameroon’s Martin Hongla easily beat Matasi in goal for his team’s second goal, the ball slipping through Matasi’s hands into the net, much to the chagrin of the Kenyan fans.
Matasi was also in the spotlight when Kenya Police FC lost to Egyptian giants Zamalek in the Caf Confederation Cup second preliminary round game for letting in easy goals.
Fans have also questioned why Firat prefers a compacted midfield rather than using the strikers to support Michael Olunga.
Against Cameroon, Firat started with Richard Odada, Anthony Akumu, Timothy Ouma, and Duke Abuya. Unattached Akumu was responsible for the fourth goal after he was dispossessed by Hongla who passed the ball to Christian Bassogog to score. Odada struggled as a defensive midfielder, and Cameroonians capitalized on this to terrorize Stars defence.
Firat opted to play Denmark-based Daniel Anyembe as a right back instead of his natural position is a center-back. When Amos Nondi came in for the tiring Joseph Okumu in the second half, he was moved to the center-back position and Anyembe, who had partnered Slyvester Owino at the heart of defence, moved to right back. The strategy backfired as Nondi, a natural midfielder, struggled to adapt to his new role in defence.
Afterwards, Firat took fault with the referee for awarding Cameroon a penalty after Eric Ouma ‘Marcelo’ was adjudged to have handled the ball inside his own goal area. Vincent Aboubakar took the resultant penalty and scored in the sixth minute of the match.
“I’ve never in my life seen a handball penalty where the referee doesn't give a yellow card. Have you ever seen that? It’s not possible. So, he clearly didn't know what he was doing,” Firat said of central referee Issa Sy from Senegal.
“When I asked the referees a question, they spoke English. But when I asked again, they answered, ‘Je parle Français’ (we speak French). I have no idea what was going on there,” he added.
The loss left Kenya third in Group ‘J’ with four points behind leaders Cameroon (seven points) and Zimbabwe (five points).
Bottom-placed Namibia still have no point. The top two teams will qualify automatically for the continental showpiece which will be staged in Morocco in December next year.
