Can Harambee Stars bow out with a flourish?

When Harambee Stars emerge from the tunnels of Kegue stadium, Lome to play Togo in the final African Cup of Nation qualification match, there will be nothing more than a name, and probably a face, left to play for. The Jacob ‘Ghost’ Mulee led-side, as well as the Togolese side are well and truly out of the 2022 edition of the continental tournament scheduled to take place next year in Cameroon.

Having arrived in Togo, and in style to go with, the national side had a feel of the battleground yesterday evening and one would hope that that would be a good motivation to finish off the group stage on a high. Stars have certainly had a good build-up to the games; two friendlies that they won, a shining performance against Egypt, motivation and, we must say, really appealing outfits to don during the international break.

The team will however miss a number of integral men who set the scene for the emphatic display against the Pharaohs of Egypt. Gor Mahia stalwart Kenneth Muguna will miss after aggravating a knee injury while midfield partner Anthony Akumu fails to take part due to family reasons. Wazito defender Johnstone Omurwa on the other hand, misses out through suspension after picking up a red card. In their absence, however, Ghost is still determined to rally his troops to get the maximum out of the game.

“We’ll have a few changes obviously in that game. It is a game we do not want to lose because we need to finish the group in a respectable position with a respectable result. We are going to try and win. It is not going to be an easy match but judging from our performance against Egypt, if we can equal the same away then we can finish third in the group,” the head coach states.

To add to the mix, both sides come into the game having not recorded any win against their name in the group. The recent four meetings between the two teams sees both sides share one victory apiece with the other two ending in 1-1 draws, the last draw being in Nairobi when Togo came visiting. And so ladies and gentlemen, the stage is already set, that is the match preview for this encounter without a punch.