Kenya hold Egypt but exit continental scene
Kenya’s Collins Shivachi (left) tackles Mohamed Ashraf of Egypt during their All Africa Games second leg qualifier at the Kenyatta Stadium in Machakos on March 8, 2015. They drew 1-1. PHOTO | MARTIN MUKANGU | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Coach Bobby Williamson had chosen to start with three strikers Michael Olinga, Timothy Otieno and Enock Agwanda.
- Egypt’s captain however won his team a penalty in the 22nd minute after he was brought down by the Kenyan defense inside the box and he calmly buried the ball beneath goalkeeper Ian Otieno’s hands and into the bottom left corner.
- Timothy Otieno and Olunga engaged in a wonderful run three minutes afterwards and the latter managed to draw out the custodian but his shot was cleared by defender Mohamed Adel.
The national Under-23 team on Sunday confirmed their exit in the All Africa Games when they drew 1-1 with Egypt at the Kenyatta Stadium in Machakos.
Kenya had to win by four clear goals to overturn their 3-0 loss in the first leg in Cairo and advance to the next round.
Egypt went ahead at the quarter hour mark through a penalty converted by captain Mahmou Abdelmonem Soliman, but Thika United defender Vincent Omumbo returned the favour 14 minutes later with the game’s second penalty.
Coach Bobby Williamson had chosen to start with three strikers Michael Olinga, Timothy Otieno and Enock Agwanda.
The first half was particularly exciting, with the hosts exhibiting commendable effort in trying to counter and contain the Egyptians.
WORK IN PROGRESS
Egypt’s captain however won his team a penalty in the 22nd minute after he was brought down by the Kenyan defense inside the box and he calmly buried the ball beneath goalkeeper Ian Otieno’s hands and into the bottom left corner.
Timothy Otieno and Olunga engaged in a wonderful run three minutes afterwards and the latter managed to draw out the custodian but his shot was cleared by defender Mohamed Adel.
In the 36th minute, Olunga was fouled in the danger area and Omumbo took the resultant penalty and slotted it home to bring back balance into the match. The second half was the same affair with the local team trying hard to record a respectable margin against the visitors and striker Timothy Otieno’s work rate was impressive.
The Talanta Fc graduate laid a lovely pass before midfielder Victor Ndinya in the 66th minute, but the Bandari fc player lacked tact and headed the ball right into the keepers arms.
Ndinya however atoned for this incident with two scary shots in the dying minutes of the match, but the visitors custodian Mossad Awad displayed awesome goalkeeping skills to deny him a goal on both occasions.
Assistant coach Musa Otieno said that the team is a “work in progress”, and that they will now shift attention to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.
