Rising Stars midfielder addresses team misgivings on the big stage
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Reading Time: 3min | Tue. 06.05.25. | 15:26
This is not just a Rising Stars problem, as the senior men's team, Harambee Stars has been making similar errors consistently in crucial qualifiers
Rising Stars midfielder Andreas Odhiambo believes that a change of mentality for Kenyan players will go a long way in fully fixing the worrying trend of conceding goals late in the first or second half of their matches.
Stars have in the past two U20 Africa Cup of Nations matches dropped points from winning positions after either conceding a goal deep into stoppage time or late in the first half.
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In the first Group B match against Morocco, that was played on Thursday, 1 May, at the 30 June Stadium in Cairo, the Kenyan boys took the lead in the 16th minute through Lawrence Ouma and seemed to be in full control of the match.
However, they were made to pay for their failure to make what would have been an easy clearance in the 45th minute, as Yassir Zabiri and his teammate stole the loose ball and forced it past the line.
In the second match against Tunisia on Sunday, 4 May, Stars went ahead in the 38th minute through Ouma, but could not see the first half out, as Tunisia leveled matters in the final moments of the first half through Fares Bousnina.
Tunisia would seal the 3-1 win with the third goal in the 85th minute when Alaeddine Derbali's supposed cross caught the Kenyan goalkeeper Wycliford Oduor napping.
The loss of concentration at crucial stages of a match is not just a Rising Stars problem, as the senior men's team, Harambee Stars has been making similar errors consistently in crucial qualifiers.
Odhiambo feels that players have a big responsibility to play if the otherwise annoying trend is to be dealt with conclusively.
"We ( both Rising and senior team) need to work on our mentalities , especially after scoring. We either get carried away or fail to manage the game well after scoring. We have to quickly learn on how handle things on the pitch and see matches out," urged the young midfielder.
With the junior team set to conclude their group stage matches with a clash against Nigeria on Wednesday, 7 May, the Kariobangi Sharks man remains confident of a strong finish.
A convincing win over Nigeria might just be what the youngsters need to advance to the quarterfinals of the tournament, as one of the best losers, assuming that results in the other two groups go in their favour.
"The two loses have not dampened our resolve and team spirit. Kenyans should expect positive results," promised Odhiambo, who prior to the start of the tournament was in Norway for trials with top-tier club Sarpsborg 08 FF.
