Mulee: Kenya coach satisfied with spirit against Togo after four players ruled out

Harambee Stars coach Jacob ‘Ghost’ Mulee is impressed with the way the players responded on the pitch against Togo even after realizing some key players had been controversially omitted owing to reports they were Covid-19 positive.

Michael Olunga, Joash Onyango, Ian Otieno, and Lawrence Juma missed the game but the East Africans went on to win 2-1. Abdallah Hassan opened the scoring for the Harambee Stars before Masoud Juma doubled the advantage. The Sparrowhawks got their goal courtesy of Henri Eninful.

“I thank the players because even after some of them were denied the opportunity to play, the remaining ones did not panic,” Mulee told Goal on Tuesday.

“It was a challenge but the boys lived up to it. It was not an easy game but the players gave their best shot. What impressed me most was the fact that players who had not played in the qualifiers before stepped up and played like another normal game.”

Kenya ended their unsuccessful campaign to Cameroon in third position in their group with seven points that came from four draws, a win, and a loss. They managed to score seven goals and conceded as many.

Togo had to be content with a place at the bottom of the table with just two points that came from draws against Harambee Stars and Comoros respectively.

They scored three goals in the process and conceded eight to end the campaign with a goal difference of negative five.

Seven-time Afcon champions Egypt hammered Comoros 4-0 to top the group with 12 points while the latter came in second with three points less. As a result, they will be part of the teams to take part in the biennial competition.

“I am disappointed that Harambee Stars have not qualified for Afcon but I do not regret it because we have learned a lot,” Mulee continued. 

“We did not collect a win at home, because to qualify for Afcon it is necessary to win home games and maybe one on the road. It will be better next time.

“When you look at the Togo and Egypt games it gives you hope that all is not lost for not qualifying for Afcon and there are brighter days coming.”