Rising Stars Captain Bullish As Salim Babu Charges Prepare For U-20 AFCON Opener

Kenya U-20 captain Amos Wanjala believes the Rising Stars are on a mission to win the Africa Cup of Nations title despite being underdogs.

The Rising Stars will begin their group fixtures against Morocco on Thursday, May 1st, at 30 June Stadium in Cairo and Wanjala, who currently features for Spanish third-tier side Athletic Club Torrellano, believes the players have come off age and ready to settle scores with creme dela creme on the continental stage.

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"We are ready enough to face any team in the tournament, so far so good, any team that comes our way, we will deal with it as they come and the way they deserve to be handled, and like I said before, we are here to win, and did not come here as losers,” Wanjala told Flashscore.

Rising Stars will also entertain Tunisia on May 4 before wrapping up group matches against record champions Nigeria three days later.

Wanjala assured Kenyans that the team will put their best foot forward, reiterating that they are banking on the thorough preparations to prevail in Egypt.

“On expectations from Kenya, they need to have trust in us, they need to know that we are ready to represent them, we will not let them down, they should relax, we will not disappoint them, we have had the best training heading into the tournament and we will give them the results they want and they will definitely enjoy the outcome.”

Beyond the continental crown, the stakes are high as the four semi-finalists will earn tickets to represent Africa at the FIFA U20 World Cup, Chile 2025.

The Salim Babu charges will be debuting in the biennial competition and have their work cut out.

The 18th edition (25th if editions of the tournament without hosts are included), will feature 13 nations battling for continental supremacy.