Ahead of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers, Kenya national team assistant coach Vasili Manousakis has praised the performance of the national team following their 4-0 friendly victory against Lesotho on Sunday.
In the second friendly played at Lucas Moripe Stadium in South Africa on Sunday, Harambee Stars needed a brace each from midfielder Mohammed Bajaber and second half substitute Lawrence Ouma to carry the day.
The outcome was an improved display from their last meeting played at the same venue when Kenya gave away a 1-0 half-time lead to draw 1-1 against Likuena.
Kenya coach Benni McCarthy used the friendly matches to gauge new players, and one of them, Ouma, capped the two matches with three goals, having scored the only goal against Lesotho in the first meeting.
Speaking on behalf of McCarthy after the June FIFA friendly, Manousakis praised Kenya for passing a huge test against a very restructured Lesotho, who played a physical game, and were full of energy.
Kenya achieved what ‘we wanted’
“The first notable difference, we were more disciplined, and tactically we asked for a clinical performance in the final third, and you know we created chances in the previous game but we were very wasteful, very wayward,” Manousakis told Flashscore.
“In this game, it started with being a little bit more clinical with the chances that we created but even before that we got the rotation right, we got the positioning a little bit right, but not quite the intensity that we wanted to reach.
“But I think the guys were close today (Sunday) on the delivery of the performance, and we have to take it in context because so many of them were playing together for the very first time, and that was the objective.
“You know, playing against a very restructured Lesotho, physical, full of energy, they gave us a lot of tests, and I think we achieved what we wanted to. Now we go back and start thinking of how to prepare for September qualifiers.”
Manousakis added: “It was a kind of a game we wanted to win, but also have a look at this new crop of players, so many making their debuts for the first time, a lot of young boys out there.
“We wanted to let them have the experience of international football of being together in the national team, of camping together, travelling some of them long distances, and it was always good to end with victory.”
He concluded: “The picture has now started to become clearer as we all start to become together and it gives the coach something to think about towards September’s games.”
Kenya to face South Africa
Harambee Stars have been drawn in Group D of the PAMOJA 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers alongside South Africa, Guinea and Eritrea.
The draw sets up a competitive group as nations across the continent begin their qualification campaigns for the continental showpiece, which will be jointly hosted by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
Kenya, as one of the co-host nations of the tournament, have already secured automatic qualification for 2027 edition. However, Harambee Stars will still participate in the qualification campaign alongside the other nations in Group D.
A total of 48 nations will compete in the qualifiers, with 24 teams set to feature at the final tournament.
The competition will run from June 19th to July 17th, 2027, marking the return of Africa’s biggest football tournament to the East African region.
The 2027 edition will be the first to be hosted by three countries, and the first in five decades to be organised in the CECAFA region, since it was hosted by Ethiopia in 1976.
