Harambee Stars failed to qualify for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) that will be held in Morocco much to the disappointment of fans who have shared their thoughts on various social media platforms.Kenya played its final qualifier match on Tuesday afternoon against Namibia at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane, South Africa with the dead rubber game ending in a goalless draw.In the end, Kenya finished third in Group J with six points. The Indomitable Lions of Cameroon topped the group with 14 points followed by The Warriors of Zimbabwe on nine points. Namibia finished fourth with just two points. Cameroon and Namibia will thus represent Group J in Morocco.TACTICAL ANALYSIS: Why Harambee Stars failed to register shot on target against NamibiaKenyans took to various social media platforms to express their disappointment in missing out on the continental tourney with Mozzart Sport sampling some of them in this article.Sam Sammy believes that Harambee Stars stood no chance of qualification and not even arguably the best tactician in the world could help.“Under the current circumstances of playing all matches away from home and the poor financial support from grassroots levels for soccer in Kenya, even Pep can’t take this team anywhere.##NAJAVA_MECA_8511236##Tanzania and Uganda governments have decided to invest in soccer but Kenya even a FIFA-approved pitch is an issue,” he said.Ozil Pingez also believes Turkish head coach Engin Firat is not to blame.“Let us not blame Firat when we know the problem. Our problem is that the coach is not given a chance to choose a team, everything is controlled by cartels in our football management.” Kenya U20 team set to play English Premier League side in two friendliesGT Tito was disappointed but not surprised with the performance of Harambee Stars.“It is disappointing to miss out on AFCON 2025. The national team never ceases the moment when it matters most,” he said.Alex Pastore highlighted two areas where Kenya’s shortcomings were exposed.##NAJAVA_MECA_8511246##“Poor selection of players. We need quality in the national team,” he stated.Football scribes were not left behind. They shared their disappointments and called for the sacking of coach Firat whose future remains uncertain.“Point Blank: This technical bench has perfectly let Kenyans down. There’s totally nothing positive to write about them. Whose interests are they representing in Harambee Stars? Honestly, how can Kenya fail to qualify for AFCON in such a relatively easy group?” posed Rodgers Eshitemi.Engin Firat uncertain of future at Harambee StarsHis sentiments were similar to that of his counterpart Keke Roy.“The only tough team in this group was Cameroon. The rest we could handle. Qualifying from this group was achievable. We wasted ourselves,” said Keke.Mozzart Sport senior writer Kevin Teya was not left behind and shared the thoughts of his colleagues.##NAJAVA_MECA_8511257##“With just three competitive wins in three years, it is time for Engin Firat to find something else to do. He should be handed light duties effective immediately,” he remarked.On the popular fans’ Facebook group KPL Chat, James Waweru chose to focus on the technical ability of our players and called for the introduction of upcoming players.“Our holding & attacking midfield is dead, we need a natural number 9. We can’t only be dependent on crosses from Erick Ouma to score, where is our 6, 8 & 10 to hold and creatively force an attack. This must stop.Oliech reveals best candidate to succeed Engin Firat as Harambee Stars coachCurrently, we have young creative attacking midfielders who can protect the ball and force an attack, to mention a few Dero Thiago, Humphrey Aroko, Kibet and Kelly Madada,” he stated.John Nzioka chose to join others who were calling for the dismissal of Engin Firat.“He should park and go. 60 million Kenyans can not be suffering yet he goes to the media to complain about officials and players he doesn’t have. He should just park and this is a national team he should know that Kenyans are suffering,” he said.##NAJAVA_MECA_8511325##Samitsi FC chairman Bramwel Karamoja was also fed up with the current technical bench.“Enough with the experiments. Time to clean up the technical bench. We have players who perform so well for their clubs both locally and internationally but they are a shadow of themselves when lining up for the national team.This has something to do with the herdsman. Time’s up for Engin. He’s got to board the next flight, if not connect from his current location,” he said.AFCON2025q: Harambee Stars player ratings after goalless draw against NamibiaKen Ericks rooted for the use of the Rising Stars for better fortunes.“It’s high time we start using the Rising stars as Harambee stars because these elders don’t even play for the flag,” he remarked.We conclude by Min Blessin’s take who believes the country lacks ambition in as far as football is concerned.##NAJAVA_MECA_8511242##“From the way the team has played all their games, it’s safe to say Kenya is comfortable with average performance sorry I take that back BELOW average performance. We have the quality to be football giants of East Africa but something is not right,” she said.
