Harambee Stars secured an away win against Namibia on Tuesday 10 September in the second match of Group J’s 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers played at the Orlando Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa.Second-half goals from Misr el Makasa’s John Avire who whipped in a beautiful free kick and Young Africans’ (Yanga) Duke Abuya who got to the end of a sensational counter-attack ensured that Orlando Pirates’ Deon Hotto’s free kick in the dying minutes was just but a consolation goal.The last time Kenya won a match away in the AFCON qualifiers can be traced back to 2021 against Togo and 2002 when they overcame Cape Verde by a solitary goal.Harambee Stars coach Engin Firat reads riot act after going nine months without salaryKenyans have taken to various social media platforms to express their reactions after this momentous win took Harambee Stars to the top of Group J with four matches still to play.“We have a great opportunity from this group, but the secret should be collecting maximum points from the early games before it gets too serious.Today’s win is something to be built upon to give the boys morale. Let also the coach speak positively for once and keep lamentations to the minimum, that is our job as fans, not his as manager of the team,” said Janam Datche, a Gor Mahia fan ##NAJAVA_MECA_8326030##Renowned sports journalist Samwel Gacharira lauded the partnership in Kenya’s midfield while also lamenting the draw against Zimbabwe.“The partnership between Akumu and Odada in midfield is good…Ayunga is a good backup to Olunga. He should have started the Zimbabwe game. We badly missed a natural nine on the day.”Alex Ngare on the other hand called for more maturity from the team in handling pressure, especially in a bid to lock games.Engin Firat’s motivation to players that fired Harambee Stars to victory against Namibia“The team’s performance improved in the second half. The team should work on keeping the ball more and managing the game. The foul that led to the only goal by Namibia was unnecessary. Otherwise, it’s good that Kenya is topping the group after the two qualifier games,” said Ngare.Dennis Okoth had other thoughts, he believes the win was just a matter of luck and believes Turkish coach Engin Firat is not the right man for the job.##NAJAVA_MECA_8325773##”We have just won the match by God’s grace. There is nothing much to show in Firat’s contribution. He must go.”Okoth’s sentiments were different from GT Tito who believed that Firat got his tactics of the day right and should be commended for a job well done.“The coach achieved his objective of the match. He had expressed his intentions to use counter attacks and the second goal was as a result of a counterattack,” said TitoFormer Harambee Stars ace shares how Kenya can be a football powerhouseOn Mozzart Sport Senior Writer Kevin Teya’s Facebook account, fans kept on sharing their thoughts after the final whistle.Ben Matwere believes that the criticism by fans of the coach’s failure to field a striker against Zimbabwe paid off.“Firat heard Kenyans criticism and fielded outright strikers and the results were evident in the match,” he stated.##NAJAVA_MECA_8325995##His sentiments were shared by Ambrose Elima who also feels it was easier to win against Zimbabwe than Namibia.“Good result but I know he feels he made a blunder against Zimbabwe. If he had used the same players he fielded today, we would have had an easy win over Zimbabwe. Namibia are better than Zimbabwe,” he stated. Hansley Lusinde took time to appreciate Harambee Stars defender Eric ‘Marcelo’ Ouma for keeping Peter Shalulile at bay.Harambee Stars move top after securing second AFCON away qualifier win in 22 years“People may not be following South African League but that guy Peter Shalulile is a killer, Marcelo silenced him all game and made an assist. I liked that. kudos.”On popular local football fans’ Facebook page KPL Chat, they continued to give different reactions.“I am super proud of Harambee Stars. This win is very significant to Kenya’s journey to the 2025 AFCON in Morocco,” said Davy Kadieto.##NAJAVA_MECA_8326043##Moses Irungu on his side said that the game proved that the team can still give a good performance even in the absence of captain Michael Olunga.“The biggest lesson for me is that we have seen Kenya can still perform even in the absence of Olunga. This also gives the coach the confidence to substitute him when he is tired or having a bad day.”Kenya’s next match in the AFCON qualifiers will be on Monday 7 October against Cameroon in Yaounde.
