Harambee Stars head coach Engin Firat will be hoping to at least get his name out of the limelight when the men’s national football team take on Namibia in their second 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier on Tuesday night (1900EAT) at the Orlando Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The Turkish tactician hit the headlines last week with his valid criticism of the country’s football ecosystem when the national team was forced to host its home match away in Uganda due to the lack of a CAF-approved stadium in Kenya.
In that encounter, Harambee Stars settled for a barren draw against Zimbabwe, leaving Firat with only two wins – against Rwanda and Seychelles – in nine competitive matches since taking charge of the men’s national team back in 2021.
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Heading into the clash against Namibia, Kenya will need nothing short of three points if they are to keep alive their dreams of making it to a seventh AFCON tournament and a first since the 2019 edition held in Egypt.
Currently, Kenya is in second place on one point behind Cameroon who beat Namibia in their opening Group J clash, and with only two teams advancing to the 2025 showpiece scheduled to take place in Morocco from 21 December 2025 to 18 January 2026, a win could boost Kenya’s chances of progression.
Kenya however face a long injury list and are also expected to be without defender Alphonce Omija and Erick ‘Marcelo’ Ouma who picked up injuries in the Group J opener against Zimbabwe.
The two players join Michael Olunga, Timothy Ouma, Daniel Anyembe, Johnstone Omurwa and Collins Sichenje who will all miss the match due to injury or other personal reasons.
Harambee Stars in training
Speaking ahead of the tie, Firat pointed out the need to find solutions as he warned his team to be wary about Namibia’s style of play.
“It will be a tough match because we have already lost nine players due to injuries and we have to find solutions. We are aware of the difficult situation but we are hopeful that we will come out with a positive result.
Namibia are very disciplined, they play from deep and have very fast transitions with dangerous players like Peter Shalulile and Deon Hotto who have something to show offensively but we will be ready,” Firat said.
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On the other hand, hosts Namibia will be chasing their very first points in the 2025 qualifiers and their head coach Collin Benjamin anticipates a tough game.
“It is going to be an interesting match, given that both teams aim to walk away with three points. It is also going to be technical, as we expect them to sit deep and exploit the counterattack, which they are quite good at,” he stated.
“I think our team is strong. Playing away from home will not affect us. Against Cameroon, we defended with a lot of energy and aggression and created around four chances, which we didn’t convert. But it shows that the team is alive,” he added.
ALSO READ: SportPesa launch revolutionary Tujiamini Initiative to nurture talent
Tujiamini is an initiative that seeks to provide a platform, including up to 30M shillings in funding, for individual, team sports and various talent, in a year-long campaign that will go around the country in a move aimed at evoking the sense of pride in Kenya’s sports and talent ecosystem.
Applicants are urged to submit their applications through www.tujiamini.co.ke