"God Bless": Olunga breaks silence after South Sudan defeat

Harambee Stars captain Michael Olunga has finally spoken following Tuesday’s shocking defeat to South Sudan in a friendly match at the Moi Kasarani Stadium.

Kenya fell to Africa’s newest nation by a solitary goal. This came days after an impressive 2-1 win over Qatar in the Asian nation, a result that left the country singing the Stars praises before the shocker in a well-attended game at Kasarani.

A Tito Okello second-minute goal backed by good defending from South Sudan helped the Bright Stars, who three days earlier had been walloped 4-0 by Mali in Bamako, pick up their first ever win over Kenya and deal the Harambee Stars a major confidence dent.

Olunga, who had been vocal on social media since the win over Qatar, went MIA after the defeat, but he has finally broken his silence with a short message on social media. He admitted that the result was frustrating and thanked Kenyans for turning out in large numbers to support the team.

"One of those days where the results are frustrating. A lot of effort, but we came up short. I want to thank all the Kenyans who showed us support. God bless," read the Al Duhail attacker’s social media post.

On his part, coach Engin Firat said he felt the team had nerves as they were playing at home for the first time in two years.

"I don’t know why I felt after the game against Qatar that the boys were not so focused. Things looked to have changed, and the boys looked so nervous in the first ten minutes. I again don’t know why; maybe it's because they were playing at home for the first time in two years and we made so many simple mistakes."

He also lauded the Bright Stars for their resolute defense.

"South Sudan defended really well, I must say, because our plan before the match and what we trained was to force the ball and overlap through the sides, and it didn’t work as I wanted.".

The Stars return to action in October for friendly games before the World Cup qualifiers that start in November.

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