Kenya men’s national football team Harambee Stars closed out their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Qualifiers with a drab barren draw against Namibia at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane, South Africa on Tuesday.As if reading from the same script as those of all outsiders who termed the contest as a mere formality, both teams huffed and puffed under the afternoon sun, but nothing to show at the end.As underwhelming as things go for Engin Firat, another stalemate here means Harambee Stars have closed out their year with a run of six games without a win.##NAJAVA_MECA_8511347##A consecutive draw, which follows their 1-1 tie with Zimbabwe four days earlier, means that they failed to pick a win in their last two AFCON qualifying rounds, results showed in the final Group J standings, where Kenya ultimately finished third with six points and three adrift of the top two places.Namibia, on the other hand, finished bottom of the group without a win.Match ReportBuilt up as a “dead rubber” it was no surprise when Firat named his squad that carried with it five changes.The first chance for the ‘hosts’ came by in the seventh minute when the returning Richard Odada, perhaps surprised by the ball, headed it over the bar from an Eric Ouma corner.Alfred Scriven, handed an unlikely chance upront, then fluffed his header from another Ouma cross in the fifteenth minute.From the sidelines, it was easy to see why Kenya opted for cross balls and headers, with Namibia employing decent organization.Another header came by from Austine Odhiambo’s freekick, but the result was similar; Johnstone Omurwa’s header flying over the bars once again.While Kenya dominated much of the first half, the same wasn’t the case in the second period as Namibia took control of proceedings, with Kenya dropping back a tad.On the few forays for Kenya, the sight of Rooney Onyango misplacing a pass to Austin Odhiambo, who switched places to move into the center forward position, was all the more frequent.Namibia, seemingly waiting for the last quarter an hour to show their real threat, thought they had taken the lead when Elmo Kambindu found the back of the net, only to be flagged for offside.Substitute Daniel Sakari, brought on to add the numbers upfront, squandered a lovely whipped ball from Ouma in the 80th minute, but headed wide.In hindsight, Kenya will have to thank Omurwa for saving their blushes as he came up with a big block late on, making sure that while the result was dreary, Stars didn’t lose.Not the best way to close out the year.
