Harambee Stars marinate Grenada’s Spice Boys to end Series on a high

Harambee Stars ended their Fifa Series debut campaign on Monday with an emphatic 3-0 win over Grenada’s Spice Boys at the Amahoro Stadium in Kigali, Rwanda, in what was Kenya’s 750th international match.

Harambee Stars led 2-0 at half-time. Austin Odhiambo opened the scoring in the 13th minute before Ryan Ogam doubled the lead in the 18th minute.

Zech Obiero, the English-born Tranmere Rovers midfielder, scored Harambee Stars’ third in the 80th minute, notching his first international goal with a deflected shot.

The result saw Harambee Stars finish third in the four-team invitational friendly tournament, which also featured hosts Rwanda and northern Europeans Estonia. Harambee Stars had failed to reach the tournament’s final after losing 5-4 on penalties against Estonia on Friday at the Amahoro Stadium. The match had ended 1-1 in regulation time.

Grenada were relegated to the third-place play-off match after losing 4-0 to Rwanda.

Harambee Stars was meeting Grenada for the first time as the Caribbean nation became the 75th different opponent that Harambee Stars have played in their history.

Grenada, with a land area of 345 square kilometres and a population of just 117,000 people, also became the smallest country to play against Kenya. Harambee Stars proved that size matters.

Harambee Stars coach, Benni McCarthy, made seven changes to the team that started against Estonia on Friday. However, it was Ryan Ogam, one of the four players to retain their place, who continued to make the biggest difference.

Ogam, who scored Kenya’s goal against Estonia, was involved in Harambee Stars’ opener against Grenada. Grenada goalkeeper Trishawn Thomas parried his grass-cutter shot, allowing Odhiambo an easy tap-in.

Ogam then scored his eighth goal for Harambee Stars five minutes later after turning in a cutback from Ben Stanley Omondi.

Ogam’s contribution meant that he had scored (six) or assisted (two) eight of Harambee Stars’ last 11 goals. He was replaced in the 61st minute by Lawrence Okoth.

Odhiambo also stood out. He was unlucky not to get a brace as he hit the post in the 31st minute. In the 49th minute, his back heel pass set up substitute Mohamed Bajaber for an easy shot at goal, but the Simba SC forward fired wide from inside the 18-yard area. Odhiambo was replaced by Obiero in the 61st minute.

William Lenkupae had his run of 10 consecutive starts for the national team ended as he came off the bench for Clarke Oduor in the 67th minute. Lenkupae set up Obiero’s goal, hence meaning that, adding to his debut goal against The Gambia in March last year, all his goal contributions for the national team have come as a substitute.

Grimsby Town midfielder

The English-born Oduor, who was playing for Harambee Stars for the first time in six years, had an opportunity to give Harambee Stars the lead in the 3rd minute but shot wide. The Grimsby Town midfielder was less involved in the game after that.

The match also featured an exhibition in long-range shooting from Tusker FC midfielder, Chris Erambo, who was making his first Harambee Stars start since his sending off against Morocco during the 2024 CHAN in August last year. Thomas tipped his 17th-minute rocket over the bar for a corner that led to Ogam’s goal. Another effort in the 42nd minute narrowly missed the top corner. It was his last action of the match before making way for Alpha Onyango in the 46th minute. Onyango picked up from where Erambo left, shooting narrowly over the bar in the 53rd minute.

In the second half, Harambee Stars overworked the fourth official as McCarthy made 10 substitutions. The 10 changes included goalkeeper Faruk Shikhalo making way for Brian Bwire in the 61st minute. The two goalkeepers had an easy outing, only called upon sporadically to claim mishit passes as Harambee Stars kept its first clean sheet in five matches.

Richard Odada, whose duffed panenka handed victory to Estonia during Friday’s penalty shootout, played the last 11 minutes of the match after replacing Duke Abuya. Defender Michael Kibwage was the only Harambee Stars player to play the full 90 minutes. Goalkeeper Ian Otieno was the only unused substitute.

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