Lilongwe — Harambee Stars head coach Engin Firat has once again berated the FKF Premier League, saying its physical levels are not on the same to play in international tempo.
The tactician was praising his players for the kind of effort they put in against Ivory Coast in their 0-0 draw on Tuesday in a World Cup qualifier, saying they produced a great performance against a national team laden with players featuring in top leagues in the world.
"The boys did their best but again, the Kenyan league is not in the tempo to play here. It is not in the physical levels to play these kinds of big teams. Under these circumstances, it is unbelievable that the boys bring this performance," the coach opined.
"We played mostly with local players against players playing all their career in the high level and it is not so simple."
Team still growing
He adds; "We have a team which is on the way to grow because our dream is on the AFCON 2027. We are in a good way. Everyone thought we would lose easy but the boys, even if they play in low leagues, show that if we are united as a team and follow our tactical plan, we can play against African champions and have high chances to win."
The tactician continued to lament on how his plans for the two games, against Burundi and Ivory Coast, did not go to script.
He lamented that he had up to nine key players missing for the game, while Stars were forced to play their home matches in Lilongwe, 2,000km away from Nairobi.
"I feel good about the boys because of what they have done under these circumstances. Do you think we could have only two points if we played in front of 40,000 fans in Nairobi? I think not. Everything went wrong and now how I wanted," the Turkish trainer said.
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He adds; "Against the African champions, we deserved too much to win. We had the chances to score. Ivory Coast maybe had just one good chance. Maybe its luck, sometimes maybe it's some quality missing."
Firat still believes Kenya has a World Cup chance
With the results from the latest rounds of matches, Kenya dropped to fourth place in the six-team Group F with five points, two behind Burundi who picked a draw against Stars and a win against Seychelles in this round.
Gabon sit second with nine points, one behind leaders Ivory Coast.
There are six rounds of matches left in the qualifiers, and Firat believes there is still a chance for Harambee Stars, heading into the next window in March.
"I believe we are still in the competition. In one year this team will be much stronger than now. If we win against our direct rivals and get all the points, then we can travel to Ivory Coast in the last match and play a final against them in Abidjan. That is what we want," said Firat.
Next round to be played in March
The next round of matches will be played in March next year, with Stars travelling away to Banjul to play Gambia before facing Gabon at home, hopefully in Nairobi.
The group winner qualifies directly for the World Cup, while the second placed team qualifies for a play-off tournament against teams from other Confederations.
