By Tony Kipkorir
The men’s national football team, Harambee Stars, will renew their rivalry against Cameroon when they clash in an Africa Cup of Nations (2025) AFCON qualifier on Monday afternoon.
Kenya go into the crunch tie, which is scheduled to be staged at the Mandela National Stadium in Uganda, hoping to avenge their heavy 4-1 defeat in the first leg held three days ago in Yaounde.
In that one-sided match, Cameroon scored their goals through Bryan Mbeumo, Vincent Aboubakar, Christian Bassogog and Martin Hongla while Michael Olunga netted the consolation for Kenya.
The result from that match saw Kenya taste their first defeat in the 2025 qualifiers (1W 1D) as they dropped from topping the table to third on 4 points in Group J led by Cameroon on 7 points.
Play here and stand a chance of winning the over 386 Million SportPesa Mega Jackpot
Speaking ahead of the return leg, Engin Firat stated the team will need to do in order to stop Cameroon.
“The biggest difference in the last match was aggressivity. In any football match, the biggest and most important statistic is the lost ball duels.
If one team has 70% lose/winning balls duels, then we have a big problem. This kind of thing we have to change,” explained Firat.
He also acknowledged the quality of the West African side, describing them as one of the biggest footballing nations in the continent.
Harambee Stars prepare for Cameroon
ALSO READ: Kenya’s Ruth Chepngetich breaks women’s world record in Chicago Marathon 2024
On his part, captain Olunga told reporters that they should expect to see a different Harambee Stars side on Monday.
“It was not an easy game for us. But, of course, we have to learn from the first leg fixture. We want to rectify our mistakes and we want to come out and really play the football that Kenya deserves.
So, we just have to come here with a positive mind. We want to start the game strong. The last fixture we didn’t start strong but we want try and contain our opponent and get positive results,” he commented.
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