The Rising Stars, who were making their first appearance at this stage of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) competition, were drawn in Group B alongside seven-time champions Nigeria, Morocco and Tunisia. The East African nation under coach Salim Babu and his assistant Akhulia, kicked off their campaign with a 3-2 defeat against Morocco, lost 3-1 against Tunisia, before holding Nigeria 2-2 in their final group fixture.
Out of the three group matches, Kenya, who qualified for the tournament, by finishing runners-up at the CECAFA U20 qualifiers, going unbeaten throughout the tournament and showcasing their attacking flair with 14 goals scored and just one conceded, were the first to score, but could not protect their lead.
Against Morocco, Rising Stars began the match brightly and were rewarded in the 16th minute when Lawrence Ouma rose highest to head home Kevin Injehu’s pinpoint free-kick. However, Morocco struck back just before the break when Yassir Zabiri pounced with a well-placed finish that was eventually confirmed by VAR after initial doubts over a potential infringement.
At the start of the second half, Zabiri doubled his tally with a sharp header from close range to give Morocco the lead but Kenya responded when Hassan Beja rifled in a shot from the centre of the box following clever link-up play with Aldrine Kibet, levelling the scores at 2-2.
Morocco, unfazed, kept pressing and reclaimed the lead in the 78th minute. Reda Laalaoui latched onto a clever pass from Saad El Haddad and slotted past the keeper with composure to make it 3-2.
Just like against Morocco, Rising Stars shocked Tunisia after Ouma gave them the lead, but the North Africans Tunisia found a route back into the game just before half-time through a penalty converted by Fares Bousnina, following a VAR review for handball by Baron Ochieng in the box.
The Carthage Eagles emerged dominant after the restart and they wrapped up the game with goals from substitutes Omar Ben Ali and Alaeddine Derbali. Against the Flying Eagles of Nigeria, Kenya put up a spirited performance and twice took the lead, only to be pegged back each time by the more experienced side.
Kevin Injehu gave the East Africans a dream start when he calmly slotted home a sixth-minute penalty after Emmanuel Chukwu was penalised for a handball inside the box following a VAR review.
Nigeria responded swiftly, and Kparobo Arierhi restored parity in the 13th minute with a composed finish from close range after latching onto Simon Cletus’ through ball. Both sides continued to create chances, and Kenya stunned the Nigerians again midway through the second half when substitute William Gitama finished off a well-worked set-piece in the 68th minute to make it 2-1.
However, Kenya’s celebrations were short-lived as Nigeria captain Daniel Bameyi converted a penalty after Rickson Mendos was fouled in the area by Lawrence Ouma, drawing Nigeria level once more.
Rising Stars were not able to cope with pressure
According to Akhulia, Kenya were undone in the three matches because they were not able to play under pressure and protect their lead in many occasions.
“As much as we moved to camp and prepared for the tournament for more than two months, we reached Egypt and noticed that any slight mistake that you commit, you get punished for it, and this is a very different level of football,” Akhulia told Flashscore.
“Again there was VAR, we committed mistakes thinking that it was not a mistake from our point of view, but when reviewed, it became a mistake and we got punished, so I think we have learnt a lot as coaches, and also the players have picked some vital lessons from the tournament, there are things that we take for granted but when you reach a high level of football, it becomes a different ball game.”
Akhulia shed more light on where Kenya needs to improve in readiness for subsequent assignments. “First, we need to improve mentally, more so from our players, you see the way they played, or we play, when we are leading 1-0, and then we can’t cope under pressure, every moment we are put under pressure we have to succumb, and concede.
“We really need to have a strong mentality in terms of how we play, how we manage ourselves. We must also improve on how to manage the game because we exited the tournament because we were not able to manage the game, we had moments when we were leading, and what did we need to do? And if you check keenly, both Morocco and Tunisia overpowered us because of that, not being able to manage the game.”
Kenya must invest in youth football to succeed
On his part, Football Kenya Federation (FKF) President Hussein Mohammed believes without putting more emphasis on youth football by investing in the game, Kenya will not be able to reach the level of their opponents at the tournament.
“What has come out here is experience, we need more experience to play in such tournaments, we need more experience to be able to play at this sort of big stages,” said Mohammed.
“Another thing I have to talk about is investment in football, some of the countries we played against in the tournament, have invested in football over a very long period of time, they have the right infrastructure, they have academies, they have a lot of their players, who play professional football, outside the continent and within the continent at a very early stage.
“So that investment in building the foundation, that investment in building the sport, right from the school level, right from the youth level clearly pays at the end of the process.”
Mohammed continued: “That is where we need to put a little bit of focus, our legacy will be what we can do with the U15, the U17, in the next five to seven years, really that could be the national team to watch out for.
“Having said that, we must continue to invest consistently, we must put in place good governance structures, good coaching systems, we must build capacity for our coaches, and we must build capacity for the players, the administrators, all around, so the work is cut out for us.”
Kenya’s display at AFCON was not a surprise
Nigeria coach Eric Chelle heaped praise on Kenya for their superb display in the tournament despite not reaching the quarter-finals.
“I like their transition when they get the ball back, they try to make some fast attacks, they have four players in the offense line, who are so fast, they are so fast, they are strong, and they can score at any given moment,” offered Chelle.
“I think they need to work on their defence, to work about when they are under attack, how to position themselves, because they have so many runs, and at the big moment, they are a little bit tired.”
Giving his thoughts on the Kenya versus Flying Eagles game, the Malian coach said: “Against Nigeria, it was a great game, very interesting and I was impressed about Kenya, but I am not surprised because the national team has been improving every day, I watch a lot of matches of the Kenya national team, so their display in AFCON is not a surprise.”
Kenya, who managed five goals and conceded eight, finished last in their Group B with one point, while Morocco topped with seven points to qualify for the quarters alongside Nigeria, who finished second with five points.
