Harambee Stars rising to the occasion in Mapinduzi Cup
Harambee Stars players celebrate their goal against Tanzania during their Mapinduzi Cup match at the Gombani Stadium in Zanzibar on January 7, 2025.
What you need to know:
- Some of the local-based players who have impressed in Zanzibar are Muchiri, Ogam, Daniel Sakari, James Kinyanjui, Kelly Madada, Brian Musa, Michael Mutinda, Siraj Mohammed and Darius Msagah.
- These players have done the case for Chan selection no wrong and even onwards to the main national team that is deep in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
Kenya’s Harambee Stars just need a draw in their final group match against hosts Zanzibar at Gombani Stadium Friday from 7pm to qualify for the final of the Mapinduzi Cup.
The hosts are likely to face their toughest test as the cruising Harambee Stars look to secure a top two finish in the round robin format to enter the finalplay for glory on January 13.
Kenya top the table with four points, level with Burkina Faso, but leading on goal difference. Zanzibar are third on three while Tanzania have no point.
Burkina Faso have a chance togo top the pool when the play Tanzania today.
The Kenya squad, under interim coach Francis Kimanzi, seems to be building up nicely for next month’s African Nations Championship.
They settled for a 1-1 with tournament favourites Burkina Faso in their opening match before beating Tanzania mainland’s Kilimanjaro Stars 2-0 with goals via Boniface Muchiri and Ryam Ogam on Tuesday night.
When he replaced Engin Firat at the helm, Kimanzi had to hurriedly assemble a team of local-based player for the two-week championship.
Been there done that Kimanzi promised to build a strong team for the Mapinduzi Cup and then onwards to the 2024 Chan.
He has since maintained that his team aims to finish Mapinduzi Cup unbeaten.
“We vowed not to lose any game in this tournament. So far we haven’t lost any and we want to maintain that standard and win the title,” Kimanzi declared after the game in Tuesday.
Winners will pocket a cool Sh6.25 million in prize money with the runners up getting Sh4.35 million and the third-placed finisher Sh3.1 million.
Harambee Stars weren’t at their best under fired Firat, failing to qualify for 2025 Africa Cup of Nations that will be held in Morocco, much to the disappointment of their success-starved fans.
But the local-based players assembled by Kimanzi and his assistants, Zedekiah Otieno, John Kamau and Arnold Origi have surprised many with their sterling performance in Zanzibar so far.
Kenyans, who have been keenly following the squad’s progress in Zanzibar have jammed various social media platforms to congratulate Kimanzi and his team, while accusing Firat and his assistant Ken Odhiambo of overlooking local-based players in favour of under-performing foreign-based ones.
Some of the local-based players who have impressed in Zanzibar are Muchiri, Ogam, Daniel Sakari, James Kinyanjui, Kelly Madada, Brian Musa, Michael Mutinda, Siraj Mohammed and Darius Msagah.
These players have done the case for Chan selection no wrong and even onwards to the main national team that is deep in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
