Harambee Stars suffered a late blow against DR Congo to register a 1-1 draw in their second and final pre-Africa Cup of Nations build-up played in Madrid on Saturday.
Coach Sebastien Migne named his strongest possible line-up hoping to seal any leakes which could rise in the battle.
China-based winger Ayub Timbe provided a sublime assist for Michael Olunga in the 25th minute and the latter made no mistake as Kenya took a deserved lead.
Goalkeeper Patrick Matasi was called into action in the 51st minute, to deny Cedrick Bakambu from the penalty spot after the referee had handed Democratic Republic of Congo what many felt was a soft penalty.
It was a second penalty to be saved by Matasi ahead of Afcon, after he had managed the same when Kenya played Madagascar in the friendly they won 1-0 in Paris..
With three minutes left to full time, Matasi turned from hero to villain when his blunder gifted Arthur Masuaku an easy goal from a soft free-kick.
Kenya won their last game against Madagascar by a solitary goal, scored by captain Victor Wanyama through a penalty.
For DR Congo, this was a second consecutive draw following their barren result against Burkina Faso in their initial friendly game.
Kenya will now prepare to head for Egypt on Tuesday, ahead of the biannual tournament set to kick off on June 21 in Egypt.
Harambee Stars are in Group C alongside Algeria, Senegal and Tanzania while DR Congo are in tough Group A with hosts Egypt, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
Kenya will face Algeria in the opener on at June 30 Stadium on June 23.
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