Captain Wanyama Proud Of Harambee Stars Despite Early AFCON Exit

3rd July 2019 - by Louis Kalinga

Neighbors Tanzania finished pointless at the bottom of the group, conceding eight times, three of them coming from the scintillating 3-2 loss to Kenya

Kenya's midfielder Victor Wanyama reacts during the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) football match between Kenya and Tanzania at the Stadium in Cairo on June 27, 2019. PHOTO | AFP

SUMMARY

Tottenham Hotspur FC midfielder Victor Wanyama declared his pride in the effort Harambee Stars put in despite an early group stage exit at the 2019 Total Africa Cup of Nations
Wanyama was speaking after Benin held holders Cameroon on Tuesday evening to kill any hope of Kenya making it into the next round for the first time in their history as one of the best third-place teams
Stars coach Sebastien Migne echoed his captains’ remarks as well as admitting to mistakes that they made which ended up costing them a place in the last 16

NAIROBI, Kenya- Tottenham Hotspur FC midfielder Victor Wanyama declared his pride in the effort Harambee Stars put in despite an early group stage exit at the 2019 Total Africa Cup of Nations.

Wanyama was speaking after Benin held holders Cameroon on Tuesday evening to kill any hope of Kenya making it into the next round for the first time in their history as one of the best third-place teams.

Kenya finished third in Group C with three points, behind second-place Senegal who amassed six points, three less than group winners Algeria who finished with a perfect record without conceding a single goal.

Neighbors Tanzania finished pointless at the bottom of the group, conceding eight times, three of them coming from the scintillating 3-2 loss to Kenya.

MUST READ: Benin Hold Cameroon To Eliminate Harambee Stars From AFCON

“I am proud of the players and staff because everyone gave their best. Sometimes we make mistakes but we are only human and the most important thing for us is to learn from the mistakes.

“I am proud of everyone because we gave our best and we fought in every match,” the 28-year old Kenyan captain stated.

The three-point finish for the Kenyans matched the effort they made the last time they featured in the continental competition in 2004, where the only win came in the final group game against Burkina Faso.

The lack of experience at such a high level of competitive football was definitely a factor that led to the early Stars exit, shown by the limited chances on goal and inadequate spells of possession the Kenyans had to go through especially against Algeria and Senegal.

“We have learnt a lot and I know we will have another qualification and the lessons we have taken from here will help us come back. We will sure be a better side when we return,” Wanyama continued.

Stars coach Sebastien Migne echoed his captains’ remarks as well as admitting to mistakes that they made which ended up costing them a place in the last 16.

The Frenchman took over as Stars coach on May 3, 2018 and despite criticism he received on his final travelling squad, he remains popular among the Kenyan faithful for guiding the national team to the finals for the first time in 15 years.

“It will be interesting for the future, but we can’t sleep. We have to learn immediately. We committed some fault which we can avoid for the future for example the penalties. There is nothing more important than the experience,” Migne underlined.

“We played against top teams. Senegal has qualified for every AFCON and were in the last World Cup as well.

“We played against Sadio Mane who was one of the best players in Europe last season. We cannot reduce the gap in one day. We have to work hard,” he added.

Stars are scheduled to play Tanzania in the first round of the 2020 Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifiers on July 27 in Dar es Salaam before playing the return leg tie a week later in Nairobi.

“I think the players learnt a lot because it was the first time for all of them to be in this kind of tournament and have these kinds of training sessions.

“There is still a lot of work to be done and now we switch our focus to the CHAN qualifiers where we will strive to better our performance,” Migne concluded.