Kenya stares at early U-20 Afcon exit

Both matches were played at the 30 June Stadium - the same venue where Kenya suffered a 3-2 defeat to Morocco on Thursday night.

The results complicate Kenya’s hopes of progressing to the quarter-finals, as only the top two teams in the three groups and the two best third-placed teams will progress to the knock-out stage.

Ahead of the last Group “B” matches on Wednesday, Morocco and Nigeria are joint top with four points while Tunisia are third with three points. Winless Kenya are ranked last with zero points.

Their last match will be against Nigeria who are the tournament’s record champions with seven titles. Nigeria defeated Tunisia by a solitary goal in the opening match of the pool.

All the semi-finalists in the tournament will qualify for the 2025 Fifa Under-20 World Cup in Chile from September 27 to October 19.

Buoyed by the depth of talent that was available for selection and a strong 26-man squad assembled by head coach Salim Babu and his technical bench, the ‘Rising Stars set their sights on securing qualification for the upcoming World Cup.

“Our fans should anticipate nothing less than victories,” said Kenya’s captain Amos Wanjala ahead of their match against Morocco.

“We are fully focused and determined to achieve our goals, which are to successfully qualify for the prestigious U-20 World Cup and to bring the coveted U20 Afcon title home,” he added.

However, a series of simple mistakes especially in defence has left Kenya’s lofty dream of qualifying for the upcoming World Cup all but out of reach. Just like in their clash against Morocco, the ‘Rising Stars’ surrendered a lead to Tunisia following a costly mistake.

Defender Baron Ochieng’ was at fault for conceding a penalty after a clumsy handball inside the box, which Tunisia’s Fares Bousnina coolly converted. It was Ochieng’s second big error of the tournament, having given away a penalty against Morocco though on that occasion, goalkeeper Bernard Jairo came to his rescue with a brilliant save.

Speaking after their embarrassing loss to Tunisia, Kenya’s assistant coach Antony Akhulia admitted that the team played poorly compared to when they faced Morocco. 

He stated that they are seriously concerned about the team’s leaking defence and that they will look to tighten it before facing Nigeria. 

“We were a bit slow in movement, our midfield didn’t click that much, our defence was again caught in areas that we could not defend well” said Akhulia.

“It (conceding many goals) is a big concern to the technical bench and it is something we have to work on before we face our next opponent.”

Amidst the disappointment, some players who include striker Lawrence Ouma and midfielders Hassan Beja and Kevin Wangaya have stood out with flashes of brilliance. 

Ouma has scored two goals in the tournament while Beja has scored and provided an assist in the tournament. 

Wangaya has been impressive in the midfield. As of Monday evening, Sierra Leone topped Group “A” with seven points, followed by Egypt (four points), South Africa (three points), Zambia (two points and Tanzania (zero points). 

Sierra Leone and Egypt had played one extra match. In Group “C”, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal, Central Africa Republic and Ghana had all amassed one point each after playing one match.