Nondi buries late winner as Harambee Stars edge Qatar in memorable friendly

As the clock at the Al- Janoub Stadium hit 90 and with three minutes of added time shown, it all looked like the first meeting between Kenya’s Harambee Stars and the hosts Qatar was headed for a 1-1 draw, only that there was going to be a mad ending.

A moment of aggressive pressing from the duo of Ayub Timbe and Eric Ouma sent skipper Michael Olunga free on the left side, and on his left foot, squeezed a delightful ball to second half substitute Amos Nondi to bury the winner for Kenya, as they turned the tables on the hosts to register a last gasp 2-1 victory in a tense Thursday evening contest.

There was the sight of a visibly ecstatic Engin Firat, who raced down his touchline with a majestic leap, fist pump and a yell, that was just maybe the silent action of a fairly packed stadium that enjoyed Kenyan support.

On the field however, was Olunga with his hands held high in an all familiar setting, all preceding the last moments of a victory that Kenya seemed to be in desperate need off.

New Stade de Reims signing Joseph Okumu had given Stars a deserved lead in the 20th minute when he turned in a Kenneth Muguna corner, only for Qatar to equalize shortly after from a Hassan Al Haydos penalty drawn form a Ouma tackle on Yousuf Abdurisag inside the box.

GAME RECAP.

For the first time in history, Kenya’s Harambee Stars were playing against Qatar and in a no venue better than the 44,325 seater capacity Al - Janoub Stadium that hosted the home side’s last major tournament not named the Gold Cup - World Cup.

For the first nine minutes, both sides looked to be sizing each other up under the lights, up until the hosts engineered the game’s first chance through Yousuf Abdelrazaq, who spun around the Kenyan defense only to draw his effort from the left channel.

Either way, the 24 year old was flagged offside, offering reprieve to the Stars backline that was employing a steady high line.

As if handed an early blow, the next minutes saw Firat’s men pull closer to their opponents - who had a couple remnants from their 2022 World Cup squad - spraying passes through space, and it was seemingly not going to take long for a move to bear fruit.

A long ball from Eric Ouma after 13 minutes found team skipper Michael Olunga in acres of space upfront and while everything pointed to the Al Duhail striker rippling the net on his stomping ground, he shot straight at Meshaal Barsham legs, as did Masud Juma minutes later, and from another textbook Ouma pass.

The high tempo Kenya was operating on was visible, and as the clock hit 20 minutes, the visitors were celebrating, and from a corner born out of a sweeping move in its buildup from a combination of Joseph Okumu and Daniel Anyembe on the right.

The resulting corner was taken by Kenya Police’s Kenneth Muguna, who swung in a delightful ball that was connected by Okumu, sailing to the bottom left corner for a deserved 1-0 lead.

The goal, celebrated by the majority of the players as they huddled around him, was the first for the Stade Reims player in his national team colors.

Following a few minutes of calm - only disrupted by a Muguna yellow on Tariq Salman - the hosts were handed a way back into the game when Kenya’s brightest player then, Ouma, made contact on Abdurisag from behind inside the 18-yard box, with the referee pointing to the spot.

Al Sadd captain Hassan Al Haydos was at hand to take the spot kick, and made no mistake as he squeezed his ball to the bottom right corner, beating Bryne Odhiambo for the equalizer.

Back to square one it was, and bar Olunga’s effort inside 38 minutes that went way over the bar, the game went to halftime all square.

Kenya made a single change after the break with Ayub Timbe making a return to the national team set-up for a rather dull Rupia, and it was through him that Harambee Star looked to break within the second half.

A heart-in-mouth moment ensued for Kenya in the 68th minute as Olunga - who was now deep in his box - almost clipped a Qatari cross to his own net only to smack the left upright.

That was the second time Olunga was the center of things in his own box as he also blocked a goalward shot from Abdulaziz Hatem off the path of an already sprawling Odhiambo to keep the scores level.

Another change for Kenya saw Amos Nondi come in for Juma, even as Qatar’s head coach Carlos Queiroz puffed his cheeks on the stubbornness of the Kenyan rearguard that now had Olunga down for a few minutes and limbering quite uncomfortably.

There was still going to be some madness, as Nondi became the star of the day, planting the Kenyan flag in the desert!

STARTING LINEUPS.

KENYA: Bryne Odhiambo, Johnstone Omurwa, Joseph Okumu, Eric Ouma, Daniel Anyembe, Richard Odada, Kenneth Muguna (85’ Duke Abuya), Anthony Akumu, Masud Juma (69’ Amos Nondi), Elvis Rupia (45’ Ayub Timbe), Michel Olunga.

SUBSTITUTES: Ian Otieno, Patrick Matasi, Collins Sichenje, Brian Mandela, Amos Nondi, Abud Omar, Duke Abuya, Timothy Ouma, Ayub Masika, Alfred Scriven, Clarke Oduor, Moses Shummah.

QATAR: Meshaal Barsham, Tariq Salman, Ahmed Suhail, Yousef Abdurisag, Hassan Al Haydos, Homam Al Amin, Bassam Al Rawi, Ahmed Fathi, Abdullah Al Marafie, Almoez Ali, Mustafa Meshaal.

SUBSTITUTES: Saad Al Sheeb, Salah Zakaria, Pedro, Hazem Ahmed, Mohamed Waad, Abdulaziz Hatem, Ahmed Alla, Akram Afif, Karim Boudiaf, Youssef Ayman.