Harambee Stars head coach Engin Firat has expressed strong criticism regarding the decision to have Kenya participate in the CHAN 2024 qualifiers, given that the country has already secured its place in the tournament as a co-host. Kenya, alongside Tanzania and Uganda, will host the tournament, which features players from local African leagues, but all three nations are still required to compete in the qualifiers.
Over the weekend, Kenya suffered a disappointing 2-0 defeat to South Sudan in the first round of the qualifiers. Firat, who assembled his team quickly for the trip to Juba, believes that participating in these qualifiers is a waste of effort, especially since the players have nothing at stake. He suggested that this mindset may have contributed to their lackluster performance against South Sudan, with players potentially approaching the match with a casual attitude.
“It does not make sense for me especially if you know these are professional players who are used to playing for something but now, they have nothing to play for,” Firat stated after the match. “This is not something little; it is the most important thing in sport, to have something to play [for] and if you are a normal person, it affects you mentally.”
Firat further elaborated on the psychological impact on players, noting that the lack of stakes can influence their mindset.
“You know you have a match at the weekend, so you don’t want to get injured, so everything affects you. Therefore, these kinds of matches do not make sense for me. I cannot say the players benefited; how? I do not understand.”
In the match against South Sudan, goals from Ezibon Malish and Yohanna Paulino in the second half sealed Kenya’s fate,however Firat believes that had his team capitalized on their chances, they could have secured a more favorable result.
Looking ahead, Harambee Stars will face South Sudan again in the return leg on Sunday, November 3, in Uganda. The winner of this two-legged tie will move on to compete against either Rwanda or Djibouti in the final qualification round.
In other matches involving co-hosts, Tanzania also fell to Sudan, losing 1-0. The Sudanese team, whose league is currently inactive due to political issues,gave out a spirited fight to take the advantage with a goal from Mohammed Abdul Rahman in the 23rd minute.
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