Harambee Stars duo of Bryne Omondi and Geoffrey Ochieng aver that the team would be on the brink of sealing a ticket to the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations finals had the team not been staging home matches in Uganda.
Stars are staring at the possibility of spectating in the 2025 finals, set for Morocco, as Zimbabwe are closer to punching the remaining ticket in Group J of the qualifiers. Should Zimbabwe hold Stars to a draw when the two sides meet next month in the second leg, the Warriors will sail through at the expense of Stars, with a match to spare in the group.
The two players feel Kenya would not be in this position had rounds one and four of the qualifiers against Zimbabwe and Cameroon been played in Nairobi rather than Uganda. Kenya has been hosting her home matches at the Mandela Stadium in Namboole, Uganda due to the ongoing renovations at Kasarani Stadium and the inability of Nyayo to stage the qualifiers.
PLAYING IN UGANDA HURTING STARS’ CHANCES
The two players believe that the team would not have dropped five points had the matches against Zimbabwe and Cameroon had the matches been played in Nairobi. Stars were held by Zimbabwe to a barren draw and lost 1-0 to five-time African champions Cameroon in what would have been home matches.
The two matches were staged in Uganda with Football Kenya Federation locking out fans in the tie against Cameroon which would have attracted fans in their droves given the big names in the Indomitable Lions’ team.
Omondi, who has started in three of the four qualifiers played so far, regretted that the support from the 12th man hasn’t been coming forth, much to the disadvantage of the team. “I don’t think we would have dropped points in the two matches played. We played well in the two matches against Zimbabwe and Cameroon but honestly, it felt like we were honoring an away assignment. I am sure Kenyans would have shown up in big numbers to push us to get maximum points,” said Omondi in an exclusive interview with SportsBoom.
His sentiments were backed by Ochieng, who claimed that Cameroon were already through to the finals because of partly, playing home matches in front of fans. Ochieng, who was part of the last round of qualifiers against the former champions, said he was conscious of the magic fan support can do in getting positive results having witnessed it firsthand at Gor Mahia.
“I really wish the team would have played in an atmosphere like the one we encountered in Yaounde. The connection between the Cameroonian players and fans was there for all to see. They pushed the team throughout and in the end, they won the match convincingly. Fan support is always crucial and the lack of it in the two matches played has been felt,” said the Gor left back.
THERE IS STILL HOPE
Despite the back-to-back losses the team suffered at the hands of Cameroon, the two players are far from losing hope of getting the ticket to Morocco. Their aspirations will only come to pass if Kenya beats Zimbabwe and Namibia next month, in matches that will still be played in away territory as Kasarani has not been passed fit as of yet.
Beating the two teams will not be enough as Stars will have to hope that Cameroon will do them a favour by flooring Zimbabwe in Yaounde. Omondi acknowledges that the team owes Kenyans redemption and a ticket to Morocco just as promised before the start of the qualifiers.
“We have to redeem ourselves in the remaining two matches. We were expecting to get something from the matches against Cameroon but we didn’t despite playing well in the second leg. We are capable of winning the two matches and qualifying for the AFCON,” said the Bandari shot-stopper.
