STARS ABROAD: Harambee Stars quartet on brink of UEFA Conference League qualification

Four Harambee Stars players will feature in the final round of UEFA Conference League qualifiers after their sides breezed through the two-legged second round matches on Thursday, 31 July.

Top on the list is Kenya’s left back Erick ‘Marcelo’ Otieno, who played a big hand in Raków Częstochowa’s 3-1 away victory over Slovakian side Zilina, a result that takes the Polish side two games to the main competition.

Having featured for 75 minutes in the home first leg - which Rakow won 3-0 - Otieno was involved for slightly more than an hour (62 minutes) on Thursday.

The night did not start on a positive note for Rakow, as they had to bounce back from an early Zilina goal, before needing the strikes of Patryk Makuch, Jonatan Brunes, and Lamine Diaby-Fadiga to easily progress.

It was a much tighter affair for another Kenyan, Alwyn Tera, as his Armenian side Ararat, were forced to dig deep into extra time in a decisive away second leg against Romania’s FC Universitatea Cluj.

The two sides, which played out to a barren draw in the first leg, were inseparable after 90 minutes, and it only took a big strike from Ghana’s Paul Ayongo to settle the tie for Ararat, and a place in the last round of the qualifiers.

Tera, 28, was introduced from the bench in the 58th minute, and ended up playing for 63 minutes in the elongated match.

Ararat’s place in the main competition now lies with a two-legged tie against Czech side Sparta Praha.

Elsewhere in Sweden, Kenyan youngster Stanley Wilson also saw his team - AIK - progress after getting the better of Estonia’s Paide 6-0, and 8-0 on aggregate.

The 18-year-old was once again on the bench for the entire match, and will hope to get some valuable minutes under his belt ahead of a tie against little-known ETO FC Győr from Hungary in the last round of qualifiers this month.

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Harambee Stars midfielder Richard Odada will also see his side, Dundee United, play for a slot in the main competition after dismissing Luxembourg National Division side UNA Strassen 1-0 and 2-0 on aggregate.

The 24-year-old, who returned to the Scottish side after a brief loan at Serbian side OFK Beograd, was not in the team’s lineup, even as his recent spell up North looks uncertain.