Harambee Stars beats Namibian Warriors

The Kenyan National Soccer team, Harambee Stars registered a very crucial win yesterday when they beat Namibia’s Warriors 1-0 at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani. Jamal Mohammed scored the all-important goal in the 44th minutefrom the spot kick after John Njoroge was brought down in the penalty area by Namibian defender, Collin Benjamin.

The Namibians, who did not have any chance of qualifying for the second round appeared content not to concede any more goals and sat deep in their own half most of the time, opting to wait for the Harambee Stars to come to them and catch the Kenyans on the fast break.

The Kenyan National team coach Francis Kimanzi, however was very cautious and gave firm instructions to his players to keep the ball as long and as efficient as possible. His strategy paid off when the Namibians refused to come forward and win the ball.

The win put Kenya at top of their group with 10 points after five matches. The first match saw the Kenyans losing 2-1 to Namibia in Windhoek. The following matches have seen the Stars posting impressive results. They went on to beat Gunea and Zimbabwe 2-0 in Nairobi, and then picked up a point in Harare after a tense encounter.

Kimanzi has kept his faith with most of the players he had called to the National team during his first appointment. This a big departure from the past where there was a huge turnover rate of players. This has helped in moulding a productive playing unit whereby players get so used to each other and work better as team.

The last game for the first round qualifiers will see Kenya play Guinea in Conakry on the 12th of October 2008. Both teams have a good chance of topping the group and enjoy being seeded in the final round.

Kimanzi has made it clear to his team that he wants nothing short of victory in Guinea and wants the team to have at least 3 weeks of residential training before departing to Guinea.

Instructors