Engin Firat explains dropping Matasi, Sichenje and Omija from Harambee Stars squad
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Reading Time: 2min | Mon. 11.11.24. | 18:34
Firat offered an explanation as to why he dropped the trio, noting that a number of factors came into play when selecting his final squad
Harambee Stars head coach Engin Firat’s squad to face Zimbabwe and Namibia saw Patrick Matasi, Collins Sichenje and Alphonce Omija conspicuously missing but the Turkish Cypriot issued an explanation for their absence.
Matasi was on hand to gift Cameroon two cheap goals in the heavy 4-1 defeat to Cameroon that threw a spanner in the works of Kenya’s qualification to the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
Sichenje has been a regular in Harambee Stars squads but has been sparingly used in games and is yet to make a competitive appearance for Kenya.
Omija who had shown promise with solid performances for Kenya up until his injury against Zimbabwe in the first leg was also axed from the squad.
Firat offered an explanation as to why he dropped the trio, noting that a number of factors came into play when selecting his final squad.
“Depends on how our rivals play, which players are in form and whatever, we also had the CHAN games where I can compare players.
Maybe some players are more focused on clubs and whatever so therefore we try to find what is the best team.
The reality is that we do not have players in the top leagues in Europe, therefore it is very important for us to have a united team,” said Firat.
Harambee Stars have to win all their matches and hope that Zimbabwe fail to pick up any points in their last two matches in order to seal a ticket to Morocco next year.
Firat was however confident that Harambee Stars would be on a plane to Morocco as they will go for maximum points in their final two games.
“The matches are very important for us, we want to win and we will try our best to do it, the boys will be mentally ready.
We need to put them together physically and tactically and we have a good chance. We are not afraid and if everything goes according to plan we will be at AFCON,” added Firat.
