Unlucky day: Firat makes case for Stars humbling defeat to South Sudan

Harambee Stars coach Engin Firat termed his team’s 1-0 loss to neighbors South Sudan in a friendly match on Tuesday 12 September as ‘unlucky’, just as in the same breath he took the result as a ‘learning moment’ for the team as they go through the process leading up to the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers later in the year.

Coming from a high of beating Qatar 2-1 at the Al Janoub Stadium on Thursday 7 September, Kenya were deemed favorites in Tuesday’s clash at the Moi International Sports Centre - Kasarani against an inferior (at least by the latest FIFA rankings) opponent, but they ended up on the losing side, much to the disappointed of the home fans who hadn’t watched the senior team play in Kenya since November 2021.

“I don’t know why I felt after the game against Qatar that the boys were not so focused,” Firat said post-game. “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.”

It was one of those ‘mistakes’ that Kenya ended up looking at to have shifted the game’s fortune, as a miscalculated backpass to goalkeeper Bryne Odhiambo by defender Joseph Okumu on an early break by South Sudan failed to reach the intended target, instead falling to Kenya Police striker Tito Okello who took advantage and slotted the ball home for what was an early lead for the visitors.

Two minutes was all it took.

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“In the end if you think that Joseph Okumu is one of the best we have, never makes a mistake like this, it happens. This is football. This is the reason we are a team,” Firat added.

It was from the team domination afterwards that the Turkish tactician drew positives, but still emphasizing that valuable lessons had to be taken from the friendly fixture.

“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,” he clarified.

“We had enough ball chances to win the game in the end and South Sudan had not even a and they ended up winning. This is the reality of football.”

On the gains the team took from the set-back, the coach added: “For me it’s one more match to learn and know which players to use when and where on the pitch. Of course it is painful to lose at home and an unlucky day that at least doesn’t happen in the qualifiers.”

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Best terming the game as a blessing in disguise, Firat shared the message he had with his players after the game.

“Maybe God wants us also to not think that we are ready for everything and that we have work to do to win.”