Kenya hold Congo Brazza
Kenya’a Harambee stars managed a creditable result when they held Congo-Brazza, popularly known as Diables Rouges (Red Devils) 1-1 away from home. Kenya had taken the lead with a well taken goal by Paul Were following an assist by Michael Olunga. Were who had an excellent first half was later stretchered off the field following a collision with a Congo player.
The congolese equalized via a penalty after Jackson Saleh handled the ball.Prince Oniangue equalised for the home team in the 34th minute after converting the penalty.
From that point on, the Congolese launched far more attacks than Kenya. But Kenya gave a good account of themselves especially on the defensive end where David Ochieng “Cheche” was a standout. On one occasion, keeper Boniface Oluoch who had an unstable game was caught well out of position outside the penalty box. The Congolese striker lobbed the ball above him. Luckily for Kenya, Cheche had retreated to the goal and saved the day.
Kenya contented themselves with sitting back and counter attacking but chances were few and far between. Once chance fell to Michael Olunga in the 12th minushould have made it two but saw his curled shot go an inch wide. Eight minutes later it was Allan Wanga who picked up Paul Were’s pass but sent his effort over the bar.
Were had a lively first half making numerous forays into the Congo half and giving the Congolese plenty to think about. However a collision with a Congolese player that caused him to be stretchered off the field put him out of sorts.
In the second half Stars seemed contented to sit back and wait for counter-attack chances. One bright spot was Ayub Timbe whose runs down the flanks gave Kenya a few moments of spark. The Congolese did not look very convincing despite playing at home to a large partisan crowd. This is a team Kenya can beat in the return leg.
Coach Bobby Williamson is once again proving that he is an astute coach who if given support including friendlies, good planning and sufficient preparation, can take the national team places.
Starting XI: Boniface Oluoch (GK), David Owino, David Ochieng’, Jackson Saleh, Aboud Omar, Collins Okoth, Victor Wanyama, Paul Were (Kevin Kimani 78’), Noah Wafula (Ayub Timbe 70’), Michael Olunga, Allan Wanga (Anthony Akumu 89’).
Unused Subs: Ian Otieno (GK), Edwin Wafula, Stephen Wakhanya, Jesse Were, Francis Kahata, Humphrey Mieno
Congo
Starting XI: Christopher Mafoumbi (GK), Boris Ngounga, Carof Bakouna (Molse Nkounkou 68’), Davy Dimitri, Mervel Valthy, Dore Ferebory, Fabrice Ondama (Dominique Malanga 63’), Cesair Gandze, Sagesse Babele, Gregor Mbaka.
Unused Subs: Pascal Konongo, Joshua Minimbou, Jordan Massengo, Dufounou Tchibola, Chansel Mahikola
Not a very interesting game from HS though they got a vital away point. It’s time we believed that we can win away else our strikers were basically unused. We also need to improve on ball control
Our keeper Bonnie also exposed the team a lot by his misjudgments and we were lucky not to be punished for that. It’s good to know that we had lots of our players playing in different national teams
U are very wrong on This, oluoch did a wonderful job otherwise they could Ve scored on one to one encounter, So cleverness of oluoch foiled There Game plan remember kenya was facing a solid enemy most of congo Players ply There trade in big clubs, So oluoch did a Nice job also if your memory Is not short o Just want to tell u That oluoch has conceded few goal than any keeper in kenya even He has beaten origi. Dont comment garbage here again, what failed harambee star Is midfield, coz the strikers were selfish n were not falling back, bobby williamson should cultivate teamwork, This Is lacking in Hs coz every Player want to shine in his on way. how i Hope we had abondo in This Game we coule Ve won in first half. Again That defence needs shakava, how Can saleh handle the ball yet it was heading to net.
Dan Original’s comment is not garbage, my brother. I too feel that the blame is not on Oluoch but rather on a shaky defense that lacked cohesion and confidence. I think it is the defense that exposed Oluoch and not the other way round. My view differs with Dan Original’s but that does not give me the right to refer to his comment as garbage.
Kenya played negative football in the second half, but perhaps that was tactical. My observation is that as a country we have very talented players. What we lack is a Tech Bench that can exploit that talent. In the meantime what I saw today makes me join the voices that have been pleading with Gor Mahia EC and Tech Bench to rope in Aboud Omar and Paul Were.
Rule number one for a Goal-keeper be it Corner or Free-kick is that if you leave Goal Mouth you must touch the Ball, first he injured himself so let us point out mistake thus doesn’t ment that the write hate Boni. Boni did make a lot of saves but blanders must also be talked of!! Coming out some time help because Goali block the path of striker so its vice versu.
@John, maybe you are new to this blog but one thing we do is to respect each and everyone’s contribution. There is no ‘garbage’ contribution unless it is gross abuse of any of the contributors. Let’s use our heads at times and not the heart. With the heart everything is good even if it’s broken. Anyway @John welcome to the site where we exchange ideas on how to improve our football and especially Gor Mahia. Karibu Bro
admin..who are you kidding?at what point was Were stretchered off???
Bonny was extremely shaky.we were lucky to escape with a draw as Congo was the better side by far!!
Team require confidence , confidence , confidence
a good game. ..a lot of chances missed bt was impressed wth cheche and olunga.kudos boys
Shaky defence made the team look bad. A. Omar did not look impressive. Looks like the defence was also watching the match. The defence cannot think and run at the same time. Cheche seemed to know his job though. My other problem was simply a confidence issue. Most of this HS guys are so used to losing matches that they think it’s their entitlement. Why did Saleh handle the ball. It was deliberate in the fast place. This guy should be dropped. He does not have the right mentality for such a big game. The defence left the goalie to exposed. Congo only have to work on those goalmouth free kicks and HS is done. By now B.Williamson should be knowing who is in the right mind for a first team place. KPL should now go out of it’s way to let the team train without disruption. The way Zambia is struggling there is hope. Olunga so far has made his presence felt. In brief this team is good bad they seriously luck confidence.
kudos stars with the perfomance despite the harsh enviroment.what we saw was lack of exposure in terms friendly matches and build up matches.football is big than Nyamweya n co if they cant manage football I think they to consult Rachier who has tranformed Gor.Kenya has so many talented players and has one of the very competetive leagues (kpl) in east and central Africa.So what Nyamweya you are a big let down
Yeah!,defence wz shaky nd l thnk the game wz ourz to luz. oluoch tried ni tu alikuwa na wasiwasi ktka kwa defendaz, owino got an early yellow,omar tew then the worst thnk saleh aliniudhi sana,game 2ngewin .bt thnks to the team,draw ni poa
Waah! paul were dsav 2 b at kogalo.he prvd yestadai..TB kazi kwnu ,the guy ls a young,speedy, strong left winger nd can even make defendaz to av stomach nd head ache. waah!…kogalo go for thz man. yes he can.
Harambee starz, l thnk thz team the name shuld be change. so it can perform. so far l thnk name mataz a lot even ln schools,churches.name mataz . let rename ths team.. ok! saleh l thnk our nxt game awarm bench. . waah! olunga alicheza nitu alishikwa.
WE hav two wks then transfa window ends. we nid wan foreign player..if not pocble then,l thnk muhoroni fc kuna player hapo poa waitwa #abas akinyemi, he is gud,l saw hm wen we plyd them 1st leg nd hs crosses ilikuwa poa.he can fit. i only mean plan B
Mmmh! let us not take the ctuation dat afc mashemeji experience as a joke or any oder thngs. l thnk afc shud retain their playerz coz wengi kama kasaya,keli,seda,ndungwa,wafula,saleh,imbalambala,etc r out of the team. gud game involve ths two teams
Harrambee Star Bench next match against Zambia let Edwin Wafule play number 2 while Owino and Cheche man the defence and that Match one of the Midfielder must assist Abud Omar there is a Guy by the name Lungu he puts on Jessey Number 3, the Boy is deadly and our midfield was not working effectively what I do not know is that both Gattuso and Victor Wanyama are playing the same position in their respective Clubs. There was disconnect between Midfield and Strikers.
Yeah! afc TB sign playerz so dat wen comes 2nd leg 2kuwe na game kubwa ya kuwatch.lngo take ma kindly request to afc’s tb .we du av joy passion wn thz two teams playz yawaa. unforturnate,even logarusic said itakuwa ngumu kwake kurudi,,, so painful..
Congolese defence was very shaky through out the game. We could have won this game if our strikers were precision and composed.
@Mwakio, you are very right that Congo defense was not good but we lost the midfield battle. There were no balls transitioned from midfield to attack. The strikers we literally getting balls from our keeper or defenders. no killer passes that Olunga and Wanga are used to. Maybe Mieno could have been usefull as an offensive midfielder. Unless the aim was to defend you cannot use two defensive midfielder (Wanyama and Gattuso)
My first time to see calabar leaking.I told u guys that were will displace someone from first team,lets keep our eyes open. i hve been a prophet of doom but this time round i hope stars will go thro.
My first time to see calabar leaking.I told u guys that were will displace someone from first team,lets keep our eyes open. i hve been a prophet of doom but this time round i hope stars will go thro.Williamson is always a defensive coach and thats why we dd not see much of olunga and even wanyama was a passanger.its high time to recall oliech menace.our talent is higher than that of congo.wafula should have not even travelled ,i wonder why he started ahead of timbe.
Frank Nuttal should be seconded to H/STARS technical bench if Kenya wants to qualify for AFCON. Both BW and Musa – “OTERO” are defensive minded coach with nothing to offer as far as attacking football is. And now BW is back to it the same way he did at K’Ogalo ” A team of the first 45 minutes only” and thereafter “PATIA i do not know who” Perhaps Olunga or Wanga. PATIA is playing SAFELY tactically but risky and lousy.
And then this mentality of calling bulk of local players from GOR,AFC and TUSKER should stop. Some players does not merit or fit to be in that squad at all. I will not mention names but that is the truth. H/STARS TB should NOT suffer from “BIG TEAM” syndrome but rather apply their minds to select the best that is available both locally and abroad. I REST MY CASE.
@OGANGO TRAILER, I disagree with your comment on calling bulk of local players from the local giants. If the players from the giants are the best, let it be so comrade. There was time when more than half the team was from Gor Mahia and Harambee Stars did well by reaching the final 4th All African Games. I can remember I was still a young boy.
@OGANGO TRAILER on tactics, you are spot on and I think BW and MO were wrong on the tactical approach. Why do you play defensive game with a porous Congolese defence?
Kudos to our Team that they got an away goal which of late has been unheard of. This is crucial. Secondly,quickly assembled team comming out with that kind of a result is commendable. We all know the preparation saga they underwent. Thirdly,Our players showed a level of maturity, because they knew they were playing a team ranked 47th while they are ranked 117th in the World, this cannot be overlooked, but they refused to succumb to inferiority complex and this disjointed the Congolese. Fourthly, the Congolese Coach has credentials in Soccer in Africa and history is on his side.Fifthly,this coach does not know what kind game the H/Stars plays that means our coming opponents may not have had the opportunity to mark us down fully. Lastly as for the name HARAMBEE STARS, We should take it to a referendum. Those are my thoughts.
@Jaupanda this is my vote on the referendum. I hate that name with a passion. On another note @Jaupanda you are one blogger whose comments I must always read because they are objective, constructive, well edited and written with a mastery of flawless English. My point is; what has happened today that you have resorted to “thirdly”, “fourthly” and “fifthly”. Kindly correct me if it is not “third”, “fourth” and “fifth”. Correct me if “-ly” does not apply to first and second only.
@ISAACWUODAGWARA, I have been trying to read and understand your postings but I have failed to do so and may be can you post in Lugha ya Taifa.
@ MWAKIO that is the GENERATION X language. When you are on twitter very excessively and being limited to 16 letter wording then you end up with such wordings when posting. It the modern FACEBOOK generation with very twisted and disjointed way of communicating very common with GENERATION X. JUST LEARN TO UNDERSTAND THEM.
Thooo! Thank you Ndugu Mwakio. You are not alone. @ISAACWUODAGWARA. please note that it is my constitutional as well as human right to understand you. Kindly don’t deny me that right. It is my right to understand what you are trying to communicate. I strain so much to make up what it is you are trying to put across and each time I end empty handed and with a dull headache. Kindly have mercy on the poor souls like @Mwakio and I.
This issue has been disturbing me since I saw our new fellow fan join the blog but I couldn’t find a way of broaching it. Ndugu Mwakio, he is not alone. He has an accomplice named Henry and i almost called it an abuse of freedom of expression till I remembered he has the right too. I hate this ‘xaxa’ generation language with a passion and I always struggle to read what he posts till I stopped. Maybe someone needs to tell him politely that most bloggers on the site finds it excruciatingly difficult to understand him. He has the constitutional right to express himself but he ends up not expressing anything. That is the politest, i could put it. ‘Awacho afuong’ora’
I totally a gree with u @ogango trailer,there is no need of too many local players.this is why williamson is never successful.we need malo and oliech otherwise i dont understand how rankigs is always done.congo or zambia should not b far above kenya.they not even better than cranes
Kumbe we are many?, me too have never gotten the gist of his posting, thx @ Mwakio for highlighting this, comedian in town?