Harambee Stars players (red) greets their Namibia counterparts at Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane, South Africa before their 2025 Afcon Group J qualifier contest on November 19, 2024.
One of Kenya’s celebrated captain and assistant coach Musa Otieno yesterday blamed the team’s failure to qualify for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) on being forced to play their home matches in other countries.
His sentiments were shared by James Situma who captained Harambee Stars in 2012 and 2015.
Kenya failed to secure a ticket to the 35th edition of the Nations Cup that will be held in Morocco after finishing a disappointing third in Group “J” with six points.
Kenya ended their campaign on Tuesday with a 0-0 draw against Namibia as Cameroon kept their top spot after beating Zimbabwe 2-1. The Warriors finished second.
Without a stadium that meets the standards set by Fifa and CAF Kenya were forced to play their three home matches in Uganda and South Africa.
Stars drew 0-0 with Zimbabwe and lost 1-0 to Cameroon in their home fixtures played at Mandela National Stadium in Kampala, Uganda.
Their home game yesterday against Namibia was played at Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane, Limpopo province in South Africa.
“Did we give our boys a chance to fight for themselves? I don’t think so because we played all our home matches away,” said Otieno, 50, who is now a coach instructor.
“Football is not all about what happens on the pitch but the mental aspect too. We played all our matches away so we did not support him (Kenya coach Engin Firat) 100 per cent. I feel very sorry for him because the situation he was in was very difficult,” added the former AFC Leopards, Tusker, Santos (South Africa) and Cleveland City Stars (United States of America) player.
Otieno captained Stars at the 2004 Afcon finals in Tunisia
“As a former footballer, I know the importance of playing at home in a packed stadium in front of your family and friends. Playing home matches away was a tall order for the players,” said Situma, who is the chairman of the Kenya Footballers Welfare Association.
“Our leagues are also not very strong so they cannot contribute a lot to the good performance of the team,” he added.
FKF interim Chief Executive Officer Patrick Korir said they will review the performance of the 54-year-old Turk.
“We have been busy with the FKF elections but we will do a review in the next few weeks,” said Korir.
The Turk’s contract runs until 2026.
Kenya managed just one win out of their six matches, a 2-1 away victory over Namibia.
Stars lost 4-1 and 1-0 to Cameroon and were held by Zimbabwe 0-0 and 1-1.
Firat has now led Harambee Stars in 24 matches, securing seven wins, eight draws, and nine losses
Kenya Football Coaches Association Secretary General Bob Oyugi and former Harambee Stars striker Elijah Onsika called for the sacking of Firat.
“He doesn’t know about reading the game and changing accordingly. He does not know how to field players, he keeps gambling. It appears that up to now, he has not read Michael Olunga’s characteristics, therefore he does not know who to field to play alongside him,” said Oyugi.
Onsika said: “Firat is a tourist and not a coach. He should never handle our Harambee Stars again. No one has ever seen his CV.”
