Lads Hit in Asmara Showdown

Nairobi Star (Nairobi)

William Njuguna

19 April 2011

Kenya’ s under 23 side suffered an embarrassing 4-1 defeat at the hands of Eritrea in the first leg of the All Africa Games qualifier in Asmara on Sunday.

Kenya looked out of sorts from the start and now face a herculean task in the second round, needing a 3-0 score as the minimum requirement to qualify. The Eritreans got off to a quick start with two goals in the opening 15 minutes through Abraham Teodros and Idris Ismail. The Eritrean added a third before the break when Tesfai Berake coolly slotted the ball home and they made it 4-0 throughTesfalem Tekele. Kenya managed a consolation goalthrough Collins Shivachi.

Kenya coach Bob Oyugi blamed the defeat on the absence of players from the Kenya Premier league. He said the team had sent out a request to premier league clubs to get players released but the appeal was rejected.

“We asked for players but the clubs refused as three had big matches coming up” Oyugi said. He however, remains confident the team can bounce back. “We at least have an away goal so we must score three and make sure we do not concede,”he added. The winner of the match will face either Uganda or Tanzania in the next round.

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