•Mulee denied being under pressure to match the success of his predecessor Francis Kimanzi.
•Mulee, who returned to the touch-line after a decade in the cold, revealed that he was keen to tighten the defence before the remaining matches.
Image: COURTESY
After losing 2-1 to Comoros in their fourth 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier match, Harambee Stars captain Victor Wanyama has admitted that the team has minimal chances of sealing a ticket to the finals set for Cameroon.
Stars fell to the minnows last Sunday to throw their bid to qualify for their second successive continental campaign in limbo as they will be now forced to fight for maximum points away to Togo and at home against Egypt and pray that Comoros lose all their remaining matches.
The team, which quietly jetted back yesterday in the afternoon was on the receiving end of sharp criticism after the defeat, their first in the pool and according to the former Celtic midfielder there is a still a ray of hope in making it to Cameroon.
Wanyama, who rued tough luck, challenged the technical bench to work on the team’s weaknesses before playing the remaining qualifiers scheduled for March next year.
“There is minimal chance for the team to qualify. The players gave their all but it was a bad day in the office. It was a tough match but we can’t dwell on the past. Just because we lost to Comoros who have been together for long doesn’t mean we should give up yet. Our focus goes to the remaining matches but there are a few areas which I hope the technical bench will address,” said the former Tottenham Hotspurs player
Wanyama’s sentiments were echoed by coach Jacob ‘Ghost’ Mulee who denied being under pressure to match the success of his predecessor Francis Kimanzi, who was part of the Stars technical bench which guided the team to the last year’s finals.
“Six points are up for grabs and this gives the team a chance depending on how our opponents will perform. If we can get the three points away to Togo, then we will be back on track. I returned to the team few weeks ago and scooped a point at home and lost away. The team has a poor history of losing away and it’s something I am looking forward to change,” said the former Tusker coach.
Mulee, who returned to the touch-line after a decade in the cold, revealed that he was keen to tighten the defence before the remaining matches.
He said the leaking rear was guilty of reversing the gains the forwards achieved in all the four qualifier matches played so far.
“We have scored in all our matches but failed to keep a clean sheet which means we do not have a problem in getting goals but defending,” he said
In the meantime, Mulee took a swipe at the Comoros bosses for frustrating the team before kick-off. The match, which was supposed to kick-off at 7pm was delayed for almost 15 minutes as the hosts alleged that six of the Kenyan players had tested positive for Covid-19.
According to Mulee, it took the intervention of the Confederation of African Football officials present to ascertain that the Covid-19 certificates from Nairobi were valid.
“They targeted our six top players whom they said had tested positive for coronavirus. It’s a dirty game which served to frustrate us but I am happy it did not affect the players,” he revealed.