Rising Stars Get Advice on How to Make Impact at Future Tournaments

Nigeria U-20 coach Eric Chelle has heaped praise on Kenya for their superb display in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament despite not reaching the quarter-finals.

His sentiments come after Rising stars shared spoils in the 2-2 draw against the West Africans, a result that sent the Salim Babu-coaced side parking.

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This was Rising Stars' only point of the tournament after losing to Morocco and Tunisia in their opening two group B matches.

Despite observing that Kenya are good on the counter attacks, Chelle raised concerns about the porous defense that was Rising Stars' Achilles heel in the competition.

 “I like their transition when they get the ball back, they try to make some fast attacks, they have four players in the offense line, who are so fast, they are so fast, they are strong, and they can score at any given moment,” Chelle told Flashscore. 

“I think they need to work on their defence, to work about when they are under attack, how to position themselves, because they have so many runs, and at the big moment, they are a little bit tired.”

 Giving his thoughts on the Kenya versus Flying Eagles game, the Malian coach said: “Against Nigeria, it was a great game, very interesting and I was impressed about Kenya, but I am not surprised because the national team has been improving every day, I watch a lot of matches of the Kenya national team, so their display in AFCON is not a surprise.”

Kenya, who managed five goals and conceded eight, finished last in their Group B with one point, while Morocco topped with seven points to qualify for the quarters alongside Nigeria, who finished second with five points.

Rising Stars could not dazzle against their opponents because the team cannot play under pressure.

Most of the goals conceded were a result of individual costly mistakes and poor decision making. Rising Stars scored first in all the three matches but were frustrated to not master a single win in Egypt.