Harambee Stars' quest to qualify for a seventh appearance at the 35th edition of the tournament in Morocco suffered a huge blow after they lost to Cameroon twice in a space of three days in a two-legged Group J qualifier.
First, Kenya suffered a huge 4-1 defeat against the Indomitable Lions at Japoma Stadium in Douala on Friday, October 11th, before losing the reverse fixture 1-0 at the Stade Nelson Mandela Stadium in Uganda, on Monday, October 14th.
In Kampala, substitute Boris Enow, who came in for Pierre Kunde, scored in the 63rd minute from a well-executed free-kick to hand the Indomitable Lions another three points.
Firat made changes to his starting XI with goalkeeper Patrick Matasi, who had a calamitous display against the Indomitable Lions in Douala, dropping to the bench with Bandari custodian Bryne Omondi coming in between the sticks.
Reims defender Joseph Okumu, who came in as a substitute in Douala, started in the defence alongside Johnstone Omurwa, Daniel Anyembe and Erick ‘Marcelo’ Ouma while Anthony Akumu, Richard Odada and Duke Abuya took up the midfield positions.
Michael Olunga, who scored the lone goal in Cameroon, led the striking alongside John Avire, the scorer of Kenya’s goal in the 2-1 win against Namibia, while Rooney Onyango played behind the two forwards.
Unlike in the first meeting, Kenya started strongly taking the game into Cameroon from the first whistle and they had an opportunity to take the lead in the sixth minute, but Olunga’s free header was stopped by Onana.
Cameroon responded with an attack of their own after Pierre Kunde initiated a move from the middle of play before setting up Martin Hongla, who in turn laid a neat pass to Bryan Mbeumo but the Brentford forward saw his effort go inches wide. However, the goal that dimmed the Stars came in the 63rd minute when Enow curled in a free-kick from outside the box, using his left foot, to leave keeper Omondi rooted to the ground.
The outcome saw Cameroon cement their top spot in Group J with 10 points, Zimbabwe, who beat Namibia 3-1 courtesy of a double from Wilson Musonda and Prince Dube at Orlando Stadium in South Africa, moving second above Kenya with eight points. Kenya remained third on four while Namibia are last on the pile without a point.
Firat had a wrong game plan against Cameroon
According to Oyugi, who led Gor Mahia to their 11th Kenyan Premier League title in 1993, the Turkish tactician should take the blame for the two defeats because he did little to study Cameroon’s style of play and further lacked the strategy to play against the African giants.
“If you look at the two coaches, Kenya coach Engin (Firat) and Cameroon coach Marc (Brys), one of them was more prepared for the two-legged contest than the other,” Oyugi opened up in an interview with Flashscore.
“Coach Marc (Brys) has a huge strategy for this tournament and he prepared his team knowing what kind of a test he was to get from Kenya. He (Brys) has some of Cameroon’s best talents in the team and he knows how to use them.
“Kenyans lost both matches due to poor tactics. Cameroon applied a flexible system of a 5-3-2 formation, playing with wide wing attacks, they took over and dominated the midfield. But for Firat, he did not have any game plan, hence Harambee Stars midfield exposing their defense, including their goalkeeper leading to the goals the team conceded.”
Oyugi continued: “ The Kenyan coach should economically make use of our young, skillful talents. Possibly he should involve some senior players and work together during his fielding, game reading, and observations.
“He needs to tactically adjust in the remaining two matches against Zimbabwe and Namibia, avoid “home stay” game, and analyse the two team’s comfort zones." On what could have given Kenya a different result, Oyugi responded: “A different team would’ve easily beaten this average Cameroon team. Firat had a wrong plan for the Cameroon game from the first meeting and it’s high time he does a good research for the remaining matches.”
Kenya’s first-half display in Kampala caught the attention of Oyugi, who said the missed chances especially by lead striker and captain Michael Olunga could have changed the game in their favour had he managed to score past Onana.
“That Olunga moment in the first half really hurt the team… anyways...they messed up their game last week (4-1 defeat)...and in Kampala it was a must win and they didn't get anything,” offered Oyugi. “It is time to go back and re-structure. The coach should pick players based on form, talent, hard work and correct strategy in any game.”
On if there was any comparison between Kenya and Cameroon, Oyugi said: “You see a team like Cameroon, it’s a consistent team with the same players for the last five years playing AFCON and World Cup tournaments, their players have been playing for the national team for the last five years, not like Kenya where they change players every now and then.”
Kenya’s AFCON qualification chances still alive
Oyugi believes despite the two defeats, Kenya can still grace the tournament in the North African nation if they win their remaining two matches and hope that Cameroon stop Zimbabwe.
“There is still hope (to qualify), it is now mathematically in their hands, they have to beat Namibia and Zimbabwe and hope that Cameroon do them a favour by beating Zimbabwe,” said Oyugi.
“In my opinion, Zimbabwe can’t win away to Cameroon considering that it will be the last game, Cameroon would want to stamp their authority and finish the qualifiers in style. Let's beat both Zimbabwe and Namibia to finish with 10 points.”
Kenya will face Zimbabwe away on November 11th before winding up their group fixtures against Namibia on November 19th.
