Kenyan-born forward Said Haji featured for Somalia as they went down 3-1 to Kenneth Muguna’s Azam FC in a friendly match played at Azam Complex on Saturday evening.This was the second friendly for the Ocean Stars, having played to a one-all draw with Yanga SC last week as they step up preparations for the upcoming matches against Eswatini next week in the preliminary round of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2023 qualifiers.The San Jose Earthquakes player was included in the starting 11 having missed in the previous match but did not get on the score sheet despite having some chances in the first half.Muguna also made the starting team for Azam and went on to put a solid performance against the visitors.Azam 3-1 #Somalia. Here are the goals from the game ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/FGyw8jbbI6— Monti🤟🏽 (@monti5ivestar) March 19, 2022 Somalia drew first blood in the first half courtesy of Muktaar Suluman with one minute left to play in the first half but were overpowered in the second half as Azam scored three.Ayoub Lyanga drew Azam level in the 64th minute before Idris Mbombo gave the hosts the lead with nine minutes left to play in the game as Shaban Chilunda made it three for Azam in stoppage time.Haji was included in the provisional squad named earlier by the new head coach Hendrik Pieter De Jongh and made it to the final squad alongside another Kenyan-born player Handwalla Bwana but the latter did not join the squad for the upcoming match.Both Haji and Bwana ply their trade in the Major League Soccer, turning out for San Jose Earthquakes and Nashville SC respectively, rubbing shoulders with former Harambee Stars captain Victor Wanyama in the league.Kenyan-born duo named in Somalia’s squad for AFCON qualifiersSomalia’s National Team, which is coached by former AFC Leopards tactician Pieter de Jongh, is made mostly of foreign-based players, with the only two exceptions being two goalkeepers playing locally in Somalia in the squad preparing for the Eswatini clash.The Ocean Stars are currently camping in Dar es salaam, Tanzania where they will also play their home matches.They were hoping to use Nyayo Stadium for the fixture but they were reportedly advised to seek other alternatives and settled on Benjamin Mkapa Stadium.
