Kenyans Shower Praise For Their Man Of The Match, Goalkeeping Hero Matasi
2nd July 2019
The St. Georges SC goalkeeper was instrumental in the first half against the Lions of Teranga, pulling off three fine saves to keep Kenya’s hopes of last 16 qualification alive
- Senegalese forward Sadio Mane may have been named the official man of the match after his side beat Harambee Stars 3-0 on Monday evening, but given the chance every Kenyan would have presented the award to custodian Patrick Matasi
- Matasi, who had spoken about relishing the prospect of going up against Africa’s greats in the weeks leading to the tournament, let his gloves do the talking in a tremendous first half show that kept the score goalless at the break
- His heroics included a 29th minute penalty save as he dove the right way to deny the Liverpool FC star from the spot and add on to the frustrations Aliou Cisse’s charges had to deal with throughout the half
NAIROBI, Kenya-
Senegalese forward Sadio Mane may have been named the official man of the match
after his side beat Harambee Stars 3-0 on Monday evening, but given the chance every
Kenyan would have presented the award to custodian Patrick Matasi.
The St. Georges SC
goalkeeper was instrumental in the first half against the Lions of Teranga,
pulling off three fine saves to keep Kenya’s hopes of last 16 qualification
alive.
Matasi, who played
for Kenyan outfit Posta Rangers FC before making a desired move to the
Ethiopian top flight, made a name for himself and became Kenya’s number one goalkeeper
after his safe hands guided his country to the CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup
title in December 2017.
He saved three
penalties in the final against Zanzibar to ensure that they won the title for a
remarkable seventh time.
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NOT MISS: Five Things Harambee Stars Must Do Should They Qualify For AFCON Last
16
Matasi, who had
spoken about relishing the prospect of going up against Africa’s greats in the
weeks leading to the tournament, let his gloves do the talking in a tremendous
first half show that kept the score goalless at the break.
His heroics included
a 29th minute penalty save as he dove the right way to deny the Liverpool FC
star from the spot and add on to the frustrations Aliou Cisse’s charges had to
deal with throughout the half.
“The moment he put
the ball down and I looked in his eyes I knew where he was going to hit the
ball and I saved it.
Even the second
penalty, the way he stood I knew which direction he was going to place the
ball. You saw, I dived in the right direction but could not reach the ball,”
Matasi stated after the heated affair.
Matasi also saved
face for his defenders who were twice left in no mans’ land and he had to come
out to make really good saves to deny Everton’s Idrissa Gana Gueye and Ismaila
Sarr.
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There was not much
Matasi could do to deny Sarr when he finally broke the deadlock in the 63rd
minute after he failed to gather a cross and Mane capitalized on a defensive
error to calmly slot past the Kenyan custodian.
With 12 minutes
left, Mane made no mistake from the spot, sending a well-placed spot kick into
the bottom left corner to make it three for Senegal.
Kenyans from all
over the world took to social media to congratulate Stars and more specifically
Matasi for a sublime performance and keeping Kenya’s qualification chances
alive.
Honorable Raila
Amollo Odinga, Kenya’s former Prime Minister took to popular social media
website, Twitter, to congratulate the Stars on a good show and especially the
new African goalkeeping hero Matasi.
“Thank you #HarambeeStars for
giving your best. We live to fight another day. Let’s build on the #AFCON2019 experience
for future tournaments. Great effort by Patrick Matasi.
Former Governor of
Kiambu County, Honorable William Kabogo tweeted: “Well done #HarambeeStars.
You proudly represented us. Excellent performance. Full respect, Matasi
our Hero.
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Senegal
“Watching Matasi
in action reminded me of Muhamud Abbas . We have talent. Kudos Harambee Stars,”
Senator Mutula Kilonzo Jr also wrote on his personal twitter account.
Depending on the
results of the group games left, Kenya can qualify for the last 16 for the
first time in the tournaments history and it is an achievement that cannot be
downplayed.
Leading global
entertainment and technology company SportPesa’s Chief Executive Officer
Captain Ronald Karauri, who is guilty of always showing full support for the national
team, also offered his congratulations to the Stars.
Despite being a hard
loss to take, the hope of qualification and the insurmountable lessons learnt
from it, prove that the future is bright for the Kenyans.
Hard game, I wish
the second half was more like the first. Matasi fantastic game! #KENSEN We still have
some way to go, but with the proper support we shall get there! #HarambeeStars