Five Things We Learned From Harambee Stars AFCON Loss To Algeria

24th June 2019

From lacking a plan B to big men disappearing on the big stage, SportPesa News details the key take outs from the 0-2 defeat of Kenya to the Desert Foxes

Algeria's Ramy Bensebaini and Kenya's Ayub Timbe battle for the ball during the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations Group C soccer match between Algeria and Kenya at the 30 June Stadium. PHOTO/AFP
Algeria's Ramy Bensebaini and Kenya's Ayub Timbe battle for the ball during the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations Group C soccer match between Algeria and Kenya at the 30 June Stadium. PHOTO/AFP
SUMMARY
  • In the end, the damage was limited to a 0-2 defeat but there is nothing wrong in losing a football match but the manner in which Stars yielded to the Desert Foxes left a sour taste in the mouths of eager football supporters who have been waiting for the big day for months
  • That the Frenchman did not feel confident enough to bring on his chosen spare forwards, Masud Juma and John Avire to help Olunga when his team was in desperate need to score is damning on its own
  • Unfortunately for Kenya, their big men failed to turn up to the party and as former captain, Musa Otieno, remarked on SuperSport, “We do not know why they failed to play to what they can.” 

NAIROBI, Kenya- Hope among Kenyans turned into despair in 90 minutes as national team Harambee Stars gave Algeria a free pass to three points in their Group C opener of the Egypt 2019 CAF Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday night.

In the end, the damage was limited to a 0-2 defeat but there is nothing wrong in losing a football match but the manner in which Stars yielded to the Desert Foxes left a sour taste in the mouths of eager football supporters who have been waiting for the big day for months.

The stats were damning. Throughout the entire 90 minutes, Stars mustered only four shots on goal and none on target and for a team chasing the game since the 34th minute, Kenya managed only 43 per cent possession and this was largely due to the fact Algeria went into cruise mode in the second half.

The sleek passing movement of the Desert Foxes midfielders, wingbacks and wingers forced head coach Sébastien Migné’s outfit to commit 26 fouls against 13 from the side decked in white as they struggled to impose themselves in the match.

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Kenyans took to social media to vent their frustration after the game with the knives coming out for the Frenchman and his boys in a country where football passions run deep.

So much so that students of Uriri High School in Migori County, western Kenya torched a dormitory when the administration denied them permission to watch the Algeria match.

What started as a day of optimism and patriotic fervour that bordered on the insane ended in the desolate feeling of failure, with many fans writing off the chances of Stars progressing past the group in their remaining two matches.

Tanzania are next on Thursday with Kenya facing their neighbours in an East African derby where the winner will most likely settle for third place in the pool after the Taifa Stars were also handed a 0-2 defeat by Senegal.

Here are the five things we learned from the Algeria versus Kenya showdown at the 30 June Stadium in Cairo.

Stars tactics were thrown out of the window

As he had done during the AFCON qualifiers and international friendlies preceding the encounter, Migné once opted for caution, playing a back four that had two defensive midfielders shielding his defence.

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Captain Victor Wanyama and Dennis Odhiambo sat in front of a makeshift centre half pairing of Musa Mohammed and young Joseph Okumu with Abud Omar and Philemon Otieno deployed as left and right wingbacks.

Gor Mahia FC mercurial midfielder, Francis Kahata was played in the creative hole to feed the lone striker, Michael Olunga with Ayub Timbe (left) and Eric Johanna (right) plying the wings.

However, Algeria coach, Djamel Belmadi sprung a surprise and left deadly FC Porto playmaker, Yacine Brahimi on the bench and used Adlène Guedioura as the anchor man with four ahead of him in midfield.

Star man Riyad Mahrez (left wing), Sofiane Feghouli and Ismaël Bennacer (central) and Mohamed Youcef Belaïli (right wing) rounded off a midfield five with Baghdad Bounedjah the lone man upfront.

By ceding the midfield to the Desert Foxes, Stars were pinned back from the off and with Kahata isolated, Olunga was starved off service with Algeria supplementing the attack with marauding full backs especially Youcef Atal who gave Omar a torrid time.

In the 34th minute, it was Atal who was felled by the inexperienced Okumu to earn the penalty that was dispatched with aplomb past Patrick Matasi by Bounedjah.

Eight minutes later, Kenya were prised open again, this time from the right where Mahrez had the time to advance and send a deflected shot past Matasi with three backpedalling defenders standing off the Manchester City FC ace.

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With Migné’s tactical plan torn to pieces in the first half, the sleek Algerians ruthlessly exposed his lack of a Plan B.

Lack of depth limited chances of a Kenyan fight back

Ahead of the AFCON, intense debate was sparked by Migné’s selection and on a night where Kenya needed to mount a comeback after going 0-2 down in the first 45, the Frenchman simply had no tools to summon from the bench to alter the outcome of the game.

Deprived of the services of his first choice central defenders, Brian Mandela and Joash Onyango through injury, it was at the middle of the pack and upfront that the Frenchman needed quality reinforcements.

Kenya's midfielder Dennis Odhiambo (L) fights for the ball with Algeria's forward Riyad Mahrez during the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) football match between Algeria and Kenya at the 30 June Stadium in Cairo on June 23, 2019. PHOTO/AFP

Many criticised his decision to axe Teddy Akumu from his final squad with Ovela Ochieng and Imail Gonzalez keeping their places and the tenacious midfielder was missed when Kenya needed to chase the game.

True, the introduction of Eric ‘Marcelo’ Ouma at wingback and Johanna Omollo in midfield in places of Eric Johanna and Kahata stemmed the tide in the second half but in truth, they did not offer the attacking thrust needed to bring Olunga to the game.

It is the decision however, to overlook strikers Jesse Were who was on target for his side Zesco United FC over the weekend when they lifted the Zambian domestic cup and the SportPesa Premier League top scorers Enosh Ochieng’ and Allan Wanga that could prove to be his ultimate undoing.

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That the Frenchman did not feel confident enough to bring on his chosen spare forwards, Masud Juma and John Avire to help Olunga when his team was in desperate need to score is damning on its own.

AFCON stage was perhaps a step too far

Lost in the euphoria and excitement of returning to the continental showpiece in 15 years was the caution Migné urged Kenyans to adopt in respect to toning their Egypt 2019 expectations.

“We should not forget we were so far from AFCON, so far from these teams, we were away for 15 years. 

“Be patient, something will happen and hopefully immediately, the boys surprised us in 14 months and I’m not sure what reaction we will have in the field against a strong team,” the Frenchman stated upon arrival in Cairo.

Having been in charge of the team since May last year, the head coach has a good idea of what his charges are capable of after all in as much as his team selection is open to scrutiny.

As much as Algeria were good on the night, it was shocking to see Kahata return such a wretched display and the man wearing number 12- Victor Wanyama- once again vanished in a Stars match, far from resolute midfielder who terrorises the best in a Tottenham Hotspur FC shirt.

Omar looked like an accident waiting to happen any time Mahrez and Atal bore down the left and in general, Stars were chasing white shadows in a performance that made reading comments on social media more interesting than watching the game itself for a Kenyan.

Having qualified largely due to the fact Sierra Leone who had beaten Kenya 1-2 in the opening qualifier were banned from the competition, perhaps AFCON 2019 came too soon for a team that is by and large, rebuilding from the ashes of years of mismanagement.

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All is not lost, even if their campaign ends on July 1, Stars will still have learned invaluable if not harsh lessons as they prepare for qualifying for the 2021 edition.

Algeria did not need to step out of second gear

Ranked as one of the most talented but underachieving teams in the continent, the 2014 FIFA World Cup round of 16 qualifiers did not need to break sweat to join Senegal at the top of Group C on Sunday night.

Coach Belmadi and his men could not have wished for more obliging opponents as they got their AFCON 2019 campaign off with an easy victory where Mahrez, one of the players who is under unbearable scrutiny, getting on the score sheet in what will boost his confidence going forward.

That he saved Brahimi for a cameo and did not even feel compelled to use the likes of Rafik Halliche and Ismail Slimani to kill off the contest proved they knew the job was done in eight first half minutes.

They were saving their energies for Thursday when they will meet Senegal, who huffed and puffed to break Tanzania without their star man Sadio Mane but nonetheless, swatted the East Africans with relative ease.

On this evidence, the clash between the Desert Foxes and Teranga Lions, another big underachieving side has the makings of a classic that in the end could open the door for Taifa or Harambee Stars if either of them loses and there is a winner in the other fixture.

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Algeria star men clicked, Stars’ flattered to deceive

At kick off, the biggest names on show for both sides were Mahrez, Bennacer, Feghouli and Bounedjah for Algeria and Olunga, Wanyama, Timbe and Kahata for Kenya.

Brahimi, Halliche and Slimani were cooling on the Desert Foxes bench while at a push one can argue that Ouma and Johanna were the trump cards in Migne’s side.

At the end of the 90, Mahrez and Bounedjah- the scorer of a record 28 goals in 14 matches in the Qatar league- had added their names to the Egypt 2019 score sheet.

The closest the Kenyans came was when Olunga slid in for a cross from Timbe in the only occasion the winger who gave the DRC a nightmare went behind the Algerian defence. 

Kahata looked a pale shadow of self, Wanyama struggled to exert influence and Timbe seemed to be carrying the effects of the knock he received against the DRC, hesitating to deploy the afterburners he is known for.

With the artists ahead of him pulling Stars left, right and centre, the tireless Guedioura broke any attacks Stars planned to spring and launched his side’s moves forward, spraying the ball over the top to the left or right whenever a chance opened.

Unfortunately for Kenya, their big men failed to turn up to the party and as former captain, Musa Otieno, remarked on SuperSport, “We do not know why they failed to play to what they can.” 

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Algeria's forward Riyad Mahrez (2nd-L) celebrates after scoring a goal and receiving an assist by Algeria's midfielder Ismail Bennacer (3rd-R) during the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) football match between Algeria and Kenya at the 30 June Stadium in Cairo on June 23, 2019. PHOTO/AFP