Celebrated Kenyan Sports Commentator Fred Arocho has attributed Kenya’s 1-0 loss to South Sudan to poor team tactics by head coach Engin Firat.
The match played at Kasarani Stadium saw former Gor Mahia striker Tito Okello fire the visitors ahead in the second minute after capitalizing on an error from defender Joseph Okumu.
Speaking with Radio47’s Billy Miya and Mbaruk Mwalimu on Maskani47 after the match, Arocho said Harambee Stars lost the match as a results of Firat’s poor in-game management.
“Our boys went to this match with a poor mentality and they didn’t take our opponents seriously. We conceded an early goal because the defenders lacked match awareness at the beginning of the match.
“In football, you know if a coach is good when his team is trailing. His tactics, changes, and strategy after conceding tell a lot about him. In this case, our coach did not change his strategy after conceding an early goal,” Arocho said.
The Mikiki Ya Spoti presenter further says Kenyan’s are angry with the result and that they can’t blame travel fatigue from Qatar on the loss.
“Kenyans are very angry with him (Firat). We can’t blame travel fatigue from Qatar on this match because South Sudan also used a plane to travel to Nairobi,” he added.
However, Arocho has said that Kenya can’t fire the Turkish tactician in fear of another FIFA case as the one witnessed after FKF sacked Algerian tactician Adel Amrouche.
“We don’t want to fire him because he might report Kenya to FIFA like our former manager Adel Amrouche and we don’t want that. He should pack his bags and go,” Arocho said.
The result means that Firat has lost five in his nine matches as the Harambee Stars manager and also sees Bright Stars secure their first-ever win against Kenya in five matches.
The defeat comes just days after Kenya crushed the 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar 2-1 courtesy of goals from Joseph Okumu and Amos Nondi.
The two matches are meant to prepare Harambee Stars for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers where they shall face Seychelles, Burundi, Gambia, Gabon and Ivory Coast in group F.
The group winner shall automatically qualify for the tournament.
