Captain Wanyama Proud Of Harambee Stars Despite Early AFCON Exit
3rd July 2019
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
- 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.
RECOMMENDED
READ: Here Are The Best, Worst Performers Of The AFCON Group Stage
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.
READ
ALSO: Alex Morgan Delighted After Shooting USA Into Women's World Cup Final
“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.