Harambee Stars head coach Francis Kimanzi has exuded confidence that his charges will eventually produce the desired outcome at the ongoing Mapinduzi Cup tournament in Zanzibar following a lacklustre start to their campaign.
Kimanzi tipped the Stars to shake off stage fright, noting this was their main undoing when they threw away a crucial advantage in the dying minutes of the game to settle for a 1-1 draw against Burkina Faso.
The seasoned tactician said the team boasts a slew of players who have just been handed the task of flying the nation’s flag on the big stage and it might take time before they learn to soak in the accompanying pressure.
“Any tournament’s opening match is always challenging since the players are still in a panic and have not calmed down. I am happy with how our players performed throughout the game,” Kimanzi said.
Harambee Stars kicked off their Mapinduzi Cup campaign with a 1-1 draw against Burkina Faso in a hotly-contested encounter at the Gombani Stadium in Zanzibar on Saturday.
Kimanzi’s charges were minutes away from registering a win before Burkina Faso scored late to force the match into a draw.
Kimanzi, nonetheless, expressed admiration for his players for fighting valiantly in their opening Group A match against Burkina Faso on Saturday where they settled for a barren draw.
“Despite our best efforts during the match, we were unable to achieve the desired result. I am convinced that we can do better,” Kimanzi added.
“We wanted to strengthen certain areas and close some gaps, so we had to make some substitutions late in the game. We hoped to score another goal and were anxious to avoid giving up a goal.”
The encounter roared into life when enterprising KCB offensive midfielder James Kinyanjui - who was named man of the match — scored on the second bite of the cherry after Boniface Muchiri’s rasping free kick shot proved too hot for Burkina Faso custodian to handle.
But the Burkinabe pulled a point out of the bag when Aboubacar Traoré capitalised on a defensive lapse to fire from close range in the 89th minute.
Determined to hold onto their lead, Kenya made tactical adjustments, including a triple substitution in the 67th minute.
Harambee Stars will play Tanzania on Tuesday in their second match of the round-robin tournament at the same venue.
The Kilimanjaro Stars will be
raging for redemption following
their 1-0 loss to the hosts in the
opener on Friday.
