KASARANI STADIUM, Nairobi, August 7 –10- Man indefatigable Harambee Stars showed their mettle by sharing the spoils 1-1 against Angola during their Total Energies CAF CHAN 2024 duel played at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani today.
In the early stages of the game, the Palanca Negras (Black Sable Antelopes) showed glimpses of brilliance and went ahead in the 7th minute through Jo’ Paciencia.
Their winger, Benni Jetour, outwitted Star’s defenders, finding Paciencia unmarked, who cooly tapped in the ball into the right lower corner past the advancing Kenya’s goalkeeper, Byrne Omondi.
In the 12th minute, Kenya replied quickly through a penalty spot by marksman Austine Odhiambo, who wrong-footed Angola’s custodian to make it 1-1.
Angola’s defender Mafuta had been adjudged to have fouled Austine in the box, and the referee awarded the penalty after checking with the Video Assistant Referee VAR.
In the 20th minute, Harambee Stars suffered a setback when defender Marvin Nabwire was given a red card after committing a foul outside the 18.
In the 42nd minute, the unmarked Austine miscued his ball and pace after receiving a nicely curled right pass from E.Muchiri.
In the 57th minute with numerical advantage, the South African side piled pressure on the home team with Stars defender Sylvester Owino forced to clear a Aguilnado Matis goal-bound header from the line.
Both sides made several changes as they looked for the precious three points.
Buoyed by the fanatical home supporters, the Stars showed high resilience and went close to scoring through Crispine Erambo and Sylvester Owino at the corner.
There was a last-minute (97)drama, as Angola’s Joao Mahna ‘Kaporal’, thought he had clinched the ‘winning header’, but their brisk counterattack efforts were ruled offside.
Against Angola, Benni McCarthy made some changes to the starting lineup from their first match against the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Earlier before the kickoff, a one-minute silence was observed in remembrance of Hussein Swaleh, a former secretary general of Kenya’s Football Federation (FKF), who had died in a Ethiopian airline crash in 2019.
Stars Captain Aboud Omar attributed their win to listening to their tactician McCarthy in the second half and the immense support from the fans.
“We showed our determination to win the game and are keen on winning against our forthcoming matches,” he said in the post-match interview.
In their first match against DRC, Harambee Stars defeated the Leopards 1-0 in a Group A clash, including two-time champions Morocco, Angola, and Zambia.
Stars are now topping the table with four points, followed by Morocco (3), Angola (1), and Zambia (0) respectively.
It’s noteworthy that President William Ruto had promised the national team Sh1million each for every match won, Sh500,000 for every draw and Sh0.6 billion for winning the coveted continental silverware.
In their top-billed next match, Stars will face one of the CHAN title favourites, Atlas Lions, on Sunday 10th.
