Brian Wanyama
- Coch Engin Firat calls Kenyans to pray for Harambee stars
- This happens after a 5-1 aggregate loss against the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon
- Harambee stars are holding position 3 in Group J
Harambee Stars head coach Engin Firat has called for Kenyan fans to pray for the national team as they seek to book a ticket to the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
Even though Stars were among the favorites to qualify for the continental final, going into Match Day Three, they lost to Cameroon 5-1 on aggregate in this week’s qualifiers, weakening their qualification hopes.
In an interview after the game, the former Moldova tactician admitted that the qualification was now out of their hands as they are to depend on other results in the remaining two games.
“I want to ask Kenyans around the country to pray for us, the qualification campaign is not in our hands now but we cannot give up at this stage, we will continue to fight for the ticket until the end of the group matches in November,” Firat said.
“At the beginning of the qualifiers our target was not to be where we are, but the reality is we cannot change anything, it is what it is, we had set the target to qualify and the target is still there, we will fight to win our remaining two matches, and wait to see what happens in the other matches, it is a tough situation but I know my players are fighters and with the support of the fans, we will try to achieve the ticket.”
Firat acknowledged that his team’s situation was worsened by Zimbabwe’s two victories over Namibia and Kenya’s terrible performance against Cameroon.
With four games gone, Cameroon have already booked their place in the continental showpiece as they sit top of Group J with 10 points. Zimbabwe, who beat Namibia 3-1, moved to second above Kenya with eight points. Kenya remained third on four while Namibia are last on the pile without a point.
