The men’s national football team, Harambee Stars, has been left with a huge mountain to climb if they are to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2025 tournament following a 0-1 defeat against Cameroon in the return match staged on Monday (14) at the Nelson Mandela Stadium in Kampala, Uganda.
Having been handed a heavy 4-1 defeat in the first leg held in Yaounde on Friday between the two teams, Kenya was hoping to avenge that defeat and increase their chances of ending their AFCON absence since their last participation in the 2019 edition held in Egypt.
However, that was not to be as a much-settled Kenya were made to pay for their lack of clinical edge with substitute Boris Enow Takang scoring the all-important goal in the second half to help Cameroon complete the double over Kenya.
The result saw the Indomitable Lions all but book their spot in the 2025 showpiece as they sit top of Group J on 10 points while Kenya stayed in third place on 4 points with only two matches to go.
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In the match, Kenya’s head coach dropped Patrick Matasi for Bryne Omondi in the goalkeeping department with French-based Joseph Okumu and Johnstone Omurwa replacing Sylvester Owino and Amos Nondi in the backline.
In attack, John Avire, who scored a stunning freekick against Namibia, got the nod ahead of Timothy Ouma who dropped to the substitutes bench.
After twenty minutes of balanced play, Kenya, through Michael Olunga got a glorious chance, when the captain robbed Jean Castelleto of possession with the ball putting him one on one against Manchester United keeper Andre Onana.
The Al Duhail striker however showed signs of timidity as he chose to pass the ball to Duke Abuya instead of shooting for goal in a chance that ended up being wasted as Avire failed to hit the target after Abuya offloaded the ball to him.
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Kenya was almost made to pay minutes later but Bryne made a smart save to his left to deny Martin Hongla on the half-hour mark before Pierre Kunde, who was clean on goal, failed to find the breakthrough as his toe-poked shot just missed the target.
Cameroon thought they had finally broken the deadlock with four minutes left before the half time break but Nouhou’s goal was well ruled for offside.
In the second half, Bryne made another crucial save to keep the deadlock intact on the 51st minute.
Just two minutes later, Harambee Stars came unlucky as Ronney Onyango’s shot ended up just cannoning off the post despite having the beating of Onana after a clever worked move between Abuya and Alphonse Omija.
Those missed chances would come to haunt Kenya in the 63rd minute as Takang’s long-range freekick caught Bryne flat footed in goal to give the Indomitable Lions the goal that proved to be the match winner.
Kenya’s AFCON 2025 hopes in the balance
Kenya now face Zimbabwe and Namibia in the last two matches needing nothing short of a win in both matches as they hope for results elsewhere to go in their favour.
Cameroon top the table on 10 points, followed by Zimbabwe who are on 8 points. Kenya is third on 4 points while Namibia is yet to record any point.
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