Harambee Stars defender Amos Nondi (left) vies for the ball with Zimbabwe’s center-back Jordan Zemura during their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations Group “J” qualifying match at Nelson Mandela Stadium, Namboole in Kampala. The game ended 0-0.
Former coach of Kenya’s national football team, Jacob ‘Ghost’ Mulee has tipped the Harambee Stars to beat Namibia in their second Group “J” match of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers at Orlando Stadium in Johannesburg on Tuesday.
The match will kick off at 7pm (Kenyan time).
Like Kenya, Namibia are hosting the match away in South Africa since the country lacks a venue at home that meets Fifa and Caf’s standards for hosting international football matches.
Hosts Kenya battled to a barren draw with Zimbabwe in their opening match of the pool at Mandela Stadium in Kampala, Uganda on Friday. Five-time Afcon champions Cameroon are also in the pool.
Mulee said that while the match between Kenya and Namibia promises to be tough, he expects Harambee Stars, coached by Engin Firat, to win since Kenya performs well under pressure.
“It is a tough game but Harambee Stars players give their best when they are under pressure,” Mulee, who has coached the national team on several stints, including at the 2004 Afcon finals in Tunisia.
“Right now we know that if we (Kenya) lose to Namibia, we will slip further down in the 2025 Afcon qualifiers, and everybody will be on high alert. We always come up big when under pressure, so I think we are going to get the three points,” he added.
He spoke on Saturday on the sidelines of a press briefing by a section of football stakeholders, led by Football Kenya Federation presidential hopeful Samuel “Kempes’ Owino, in Nairobi.
However, Namibia Warriors are ranked 10 places higher than Kenya. Namibia Warriors lie 98th in Fifa rankings, while Kenya are placed 108th.
Apart from coach Firat’s failure to field a natural striker in Friday’s match against Zimbabwe until late in the second half when he introduced John Avire, Mulee also observed that Kenya’s performance against the Warriors was also affected by a lack of the crucial home support.
Lack of home advantage
“When you play at home at Nyayo National Stadium and at Moi International Sports Centre in Kasarani, there is a feeling of home ground and we know we owe this result to our fans who are just close to us. The minute you go to play away from home, even your mood and mindset does not give you the fever,” the veteran coach observed.
Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions top the pool with three points, thanks to their 1-0 win over visitors Namibia at Stade Omnisports Roumdé Adjia in Garoua on Saturday.
Kenya and Zimbabwe follow in that order with one point each, while Namibia are bottom with no point.
While Namibia competed in the delayed 2023 Afcon finals held in Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya are seeking to make a return to the showpiece after their last appearance in the 2019 edition held in Egypt.
Kenya and Namibia have met six times, with the southern African nation winning four times. Kenya has beaten Namibia twice.
Kenya has never beaten Namibia away. The two teams last met on September 8, 2013, in a 2014 Fifa World Cup qualifier match, with hosts Kenya winning 1-0.
The biggest margin of victory between the two sides was on May 31, 2008, when hosts Namibia defeated Kenya 2-1 in a 2010 Fifa World Cup/Afcon qualifier. After they clashed with Zimbabwe on Friday, Kenya flew out to Johannesburg on Saturday morning.
