Harambee Stars head coach Engin Firat reckons they possess the ammunition to annihilate Zimbabwe and Namibia in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
Kenya, who are already in South Africa, will take the battle to the doorstep of Zimbabwe on Friday before facing Namibia next week on Tuesday.
Both games will be played at Polokwane’s New Peter Mokaba Stadium.
Recognising the danger posed by both opponents, Firat urged his players to push above their weight for the desired results.
“The group has some very good teams and is fiercely competitive. As you recall, Namibia placed second in their group during the World Cup qualifiers and Zimbabwe have only given up one goal so far,” Firat said.
“Numerous players from Zimbabwe compete in the top leagues, such as Ligue One in France, Serie A and the Premier League. The entire team is made of professionals and nobody is absent,” he said.
The Turkish gaffer said they have scoured the records for relevant information to help them put their opponents to the sword.
“We are aware we must exert pressure on our adversaries. We know how to take advantage of their weaknesses. We will not open the game because we are aware of how deep Namibia and Zimbabwe play,” he said.
Firat voiced his disapproval of Zimbabwe’s choice to hold their match against Kenya in Polokwane in the northeastern region of South Africa.
Kenya will put in extra hours to get to the venue, which is more than 320km from Johannesburg.
Harambee Stars’ plane touched down at the Oliver Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg on Monday morning.
They then drove to Polokwane.
“I am not sure why they selected the stadium because it is really hard to get to the city itself,” Firat said.
“We have to take a bus for about five hours to get to the stadium after our flight to Johannesburg. We also have a very hard time getting a domestic flight.”
Firat believes his preparations for the crucial game will be greatly impacted by the convoluted travel plans, adding that foreign-based players will have limited time to train prior to Friday’s match.
“It will be a long journey for the other players in Europe who will need to fly for 15 to 16 hours to get to South Africa, but we have the majority of our local players,” he said.
“So, I think on Wednesday, it’s when we will have all our players in camp and then training a day before our game on Friday.”
With 10 points, Cameroon have already earned a spot in the tournament while second-placed Zimbabwe, with eight points, can seal a spot with a draw against Kenya on Friday.
Winning these final games could put Kenya back in contention.
In the meantime, Harambee Stars midfielder Teddy Akumu is still optimistic Kenya can still qualify for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations despite back-to-back losses to Cameroon.
“People have already written us
off, but there are still two games to
play. In football anything is possible. I think we can qualify, and we
will give both matches our best," he said.
