Kenyan striker Michael Olunga has taken to his verified Facebook page to delivered a strong message to Harambee Stars’ fans that he will ‘fight to the end’ during Afcon 2019.
The Kenyan side suffered defeat in their Group C opener after first-half strikes from Baghdad Bounedjah and Riyad Mahrez saw Algeria run out comfortable 2-0 winners on Sunday.
The towering Olunga, who turns out for Kashiwa Reysol in Japan, admits the pain of that defeat is still ‘raw’ but he and his teammates will learn from the experience and take that into their next match against their East African neighbours Tanzania, who suffered a similar defeat to Senegal in their opener.
The striker echoed those same sentiments when he told Goal: “We don’t have any short cut as it stands, we are in a must win situation and that is what we are targeting against Tanzania,”
“A win against Tanzania will revive our hopes of reaching the knockout stage but we must improve in every aspect before we face them.
“The team was not good against Algeria, we came up against a very strong side and could not give them a challenge. We must forget that defeat quickly and focus on our next game. It is a game everyone is now looking forward to and we must show up for the game and do Kenyans proud.”
Olunga has also challenged the fans to remain positive and support the team at this crucial stage.
“We owe the fans a lot, they deserve more from us and I know they are not happy after we lost to Algeria. We still need their support because we still have two matches to play, we want them to rally behind us.”
The Harambee Stars sit at the bottom of Group C after one round of matches and victory against Emmanuel Amuneke’s team will be a major boost in their quest to progress to the knockout phase.
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