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Kenya's Rising Stars' coach shared his thoughts after a hard-fought draw, hinting at positives despite the tournament exit.
Rising Stars put up a good fight in their final group stage match against Nigeria at the CAF U20 Africa Cup of Nations, but their efforts were not enough to secure a win.
The match ended in a 2-2 draw, with Kevin Wangaya giving Kenya the lead through a sixth-minute penalty. Just about seven minutes later, Nigeria’s Kparobo Arierhi equalised.
Midway through the second half, substitute William Gitama placed Kenya in the lead, scoring in the 68th minute to make it 2-1, but that was short-lived as captain Daniel Bameyi converted a penalty to equalise the score once again.
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The match ended in a 2-2 draw, and despite that, Rising Stars Assistant Coach Anthony Akhulia has lauded the boys for putting up a good fight, managing to draw against an experienced Nigerian team.
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Anthony Akhulia revealed that the Rising Stars gave their all in their final match despite conceding two goals.
As compared to their two previous games against Morocco and Tunisia, Anthony Akhulia pointed out that their style of play greatly changed against Nigeria.
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Rising Stars lost 3-2 in their opening match against Morocco before falling 3-1 against Tunisia in their second group stage match.
“It was a good match, a good show from the team, we've ended the tournament with a 2-2 draw. I feel like today we played well, despite conceding a penalty in the last minutes of the game, but we played well,” Akhulia said.
“I feel like the boys gave their best in terms of how we defended and how we attacked. I feel they have done well. I think in today's performance, the boys and the entire team wanted to, even if we are exiting the tournament, we have to do it in a better way.”
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Anthony Akhulia added that the entire squad wanted to win the match, but things did not go as planned, and they now shift focus to upcoming assignments, including CECAFA and CHAN.
He added that the main goal was to exit the tournament as a better team, having not conceded any goals or lost a lot of matches.
“This team has been together for some time now. It transformed from the under-18, now it's the under-20. I think the future is for most of these players to be promoted to the senior team, if not all,” Akhulia added.
Despite exiting the tournament, the Rising Stars leave with their heads held high, having shown growth, resilience, and promise for the future as they now set their sights on upcoming regional competitions.
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