Stars have what it takes to shake up 2019 Afcon order

What you need to know:

  • They already know we are athletic but they have never had occasion to know that we are athletic in every game we play.
  • It is with all that in mind that we wish to urge Football Kenya Federation, the sports ministry and anybody out there to make sure that this edition of Harambee Stars is given enough preparations and attitude.
  • Let us for once take this thing seriously and it shall make us serious forever after.

Now the group stage is complete. The Saturday match between Ghana and Kenya was a decider on who reigns in that particular roost.

We lost the battle by one goal to nil to finish second in the group.

To say the truth, our patriotism was tested to the limit and we suffered fear all through the match.

Somehow, we were afraid we were going to be mauled sans mercy but in the end they only slapped us once courtesy of a goalkeeping error.

We are not here to admonish and belittle anyone but our style of play was wanting. We parked our bus quite admirably and sat to play out for a draw. That is a dangerous game and it is usually preferred by teams that know they are inferior to the opponent and want to win slyly.

We have qualified for Afcon all the same but the display we put up makes us afraid of the future. We do not want a case scenario where Kenya shall be the whipping boys of a group; the team that everybody writes off and counts as an underdog! The draw will be made soon and we will see what teams stand on our path to glory. We have about eight weeks to prepare.

It would be nice to remind Kenyans that none of our teams that have made it to the continental finals has ever scaled to the second round. All have fallen short.

Even for winning a match at that stage has only been done once β€” against Burkina Faso in 2004 if I am not wrong.

It is our sincere belief that this time round Kenya will advance deep into the competition.

We have a team and it has that ability. We have taken pains to watch all the other African teams that have qualified for the finals with keen interest. We have concluded that they are all beatable and that perhaps what we may lack is the hunger for victory.

Many others have been there and take as a matter of course that the glory must be theirs.

That is the only whiff that gives them mental strength that we lack. We must go there with all energy we can muster so that we do something strange to this continent and the world at large.

It is time to announce our entry into football. They already know we are athletic but they have never had occasion to know that we are athletic in every game we play.

It is with all that in mind that we wish to urge Football Kenya Federation, the sports ministry and anybody out there to make sure that this edition of Harambee Stars is given enough preparations and attitude.

Let us for once take this thing seriously and it shall make us serious forever after.