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Stars play vastly-improved Equatorial Guinea in Turkey
Harambee Stars players during a training session at Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi.
What you need to know:
- Captain Michael Olunga and defender Collins Sichenje were given time off, assistant coach Vasili Manousakis said.
- Manousakis also said the team's objective would be to win the two friendly matches against Equatorial Guinea and Senegal.
Gor Mahia Defender Michael Kibwage and Nairobi United winger Ovellah Ochieng' are the only remnants from the Harambee Stars squad that defeated Equatorial Guinea 1-0 when the two teams first met in a friendly match that was played at the Kenyatta Stadium in Machakos on May 28, 2018.
Kibwage and Ochieng' featured as substitutes in that 2028 match with former Wazito forward Pistone Mutamba notching the winner in the 73rd minute to give the Frenchman Sebastian Migne his first victory as Harambee Stars coach. Migne would later become Equatorial Guinea's coach in November 2019 after leaving Harambee Stars in August 2019.
Back then, Equatorial Guinea were ranked 138th globally and 40th in Africa. The team is now ranked 99th globally, and Kenya is placed 109th.
Equatorial Guinea will have even more familiar faces with Esteban Obiang, Iban Salvador, Pablo Ganet, and Saul Coco set to feature against Harambee Stars yet again. The match will be played at the Emir Complex in Antalya, Turkey, from 6pm.
Harambee Stars arrived in Turkey on Wednesday, a day after the team’s assistant coach Vasili Manousakis had said in a press briefing at the Nyayo National Stadium that the friendly match against the central African nation, and against Senegal on November 18 will be used to “develop a new crop of Harambee Stars players.”
“We have our work cut against two strong teams. While they are focusing on Afcon 2025 we are focused on developping a new crop of players. We have local-based players who have been performing week in week out. We wish we could have picked more of them for these friendly matches because there are a lot more players on form," Manousakis had stated.
Manousakis was standing in for Harambee Stars coach Benni McCarthy at the press briefing as the latter was away in his native South Africa to attend to his passport renewal.
Defenders Bryton Onyona (Gor Mahia) and Kevin Otiende (Nairobi United) and attacking midfielder Aldrine Kibet are in the squad after receiving their maiden call-ups. Goalkeeper Brian Opondo (Tusker), defender Baron Ochieng' (Zamalek, Egypt), wingers Sharif Musa (Gor Mahia) and Ovellah Ochieng' (Nairobi United), and forward Jonah Ayunga (St. Mirren, Scotland) were called up after varying periods of absence.
Captain Michael Olunga and defender Collins Sichenje were given time off, Manousakis said on Tuesday.
Manousakis also said the team's objective would be to win the two friendly matches against Equatorial Guinea and Senegal, stating: “Even we have a new group of players in the squad, our target will be to win those matches because that is what all this is about. Difficult matches like this will help the team grow.”
“The objective is to give them a taste of international football and see how they respond. We also wanted freshen things up in the squad. The players have a good opportunity because there will be less pressure on them since they are playing friendly matches" Manousakis added.
Manousakis’ statements built on comments made by McCarthy earlier about the technical bench planning to give opportunities to more players as they build a team that will represent Kenya at the 2027 African Cup of Nations, the competition the country will co-host with Tanzania and Uganda.
Harambee Stars, who missed out on qualifying for Afcon 2025 and the 2026 Fifa World Cup, will not play competitively until Afcon 2027. Their schedule between now and then will be filled with friendly matches and Afcon 2027 qualifiers which will be played as a formality.
The match against Equatorial Guinea will be Harambee Stars' 17th match of the year and their third friendly match in 2025 since playing Chad in back-to-back matches in June in Morocco. For Equatorial Guinea, the match marks a fresh start for their national team under caretaker coach Guillermo Ganet as they prepare to compete at Afcon 2025 which start next month in Morocco.
Equatorial Guinea is coming from a turbulent October, during which the country's football federation sacked its former coach Juan Micha Obiang and banished several players after they went on strike and failed to honour a 2026 Fifa World Cup away qualifier against Malawi, who were awarded a 3-0 win as a result of their opponents forfeiture. The team went on strike after their complaints on money and training conditions were not addressed.
Obiang had coached Equatorial Guinea for four years and helped them qualify for three consecutive Afcons for the first time in their history. He was replaced by Casto Nopo as interim coach in October. Nopo was later relegated to assistant coach after Guillermo Ganet was appointed caretaker coach.
