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Harambee Stars coach Engin Firat and his captain Michael Olunga have explained what Kenya must do to silence Ivory Coast and Burundi in the upcoming World Cup qualifiers.
Harambee Stars coach Engin Firat and his captain Michael Olunga feel their impressive outing at the Four Nations tournament is a confidence booster ahead of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in June.
Kenya won the tournament after beating Malawi 4-0 before a 3-1 victory over Zimbabwe with Olunga scoring five of the seven goals and with proper test coming up, the two believe they can take advantage of the feel-good factor to triumph.
Harambee Stars will face Burundi on June 3 before taking on African champions Ivory Coast seven days later, both matches being played in Nairobi, and with such a tough test up next, Firat and Olunga hope they will get the right preparations.
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07:00 - 28.03.2024
FOOTBALL Firat reveals two things Harambee Stars have worked on in Malawi ahead of Ivory Coast, Burundi assignments
Firat has explained how the Malawi tournament has enabled him to work on some details ahead of their clash against AFCON winners Ivory Coast and Burundi in June.
“This team deserves support which has been lacking until now and I hope from now on, the belief in this team will get higher and these boys representing Kenya will get the opportunity to do great things,” said Firat.
Olunga concurred with his coach, saying: “It is a good confidence booster for the boys and the team is now coming up quite well. We have a good squad of young players and experienced boys.”
“We used it as a good preparation and come June, when the real games will be coming; matchday three and four, we want to produce good results bearing in mind that we are going to play at home,” he added.
Kenya have three points in Group F after their 5-0 thrashing of Seychelles in November which came after a 2-1 loss away to Gabon.
The Ivorians lead the group with the maximum six points from two matches, same as Gabon, after destroying Seychelles 9-0 before beating the Gambia 2-0 after which they went on to win the delayed 2023 Africa Cup of Nations against all odds.
Like Kenya, Burundi also have three points, while the Gambian and Seychelles are pointless, setting up epic battles in June given only the top team will seal a direct ticket to the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
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