Harambee Stars center-back Joseph Okumu and his club, Stade de Reims had a disappointing end to their Japan pre-season tour, suffering a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Japanese club Vissel Kobe on Sunday.Okumu played the entire match and was unlucky to be booked in the 15th minute.Reims had been camping in Japan for the last two weeks as part of their preparations for the new French Ligue 1 season.During their stay, the Luka Elsner-coached outfit took part in four build-up matches, winning one, drawing one, and losing two.Reims kicked off the tour with a 1-1 draw against Jubilo Iwata three days ago at Yamaha Stadium, with Ivorian winger Oumar Diakite netting the equaliser for the visitors.Paris 2024: The long Malkia Strikers wait for Olympic victory continues after defeat to JapanOkumu featured in the game against Jubilo and retained his place in the team against Shimizu, where they lost 3-0, before featuring in the third game of the tour against Machida Zelvia, which ended in a 2-0 win.Enjoying home advantage and support, Kobe controlled proceedings for most of the opening minutes and missed a couple of chances to take the lead.Apart from the missed opportunities and Okumu’s yellow card, the first half offered little action, as the teams went into the break tied at 0-0.Reims made three substitutions at halftime, aiming to dictate the match tempo, but it was not sufficient as Jean Patric scored the sole goal of the match in the 51st minute.Reims will travel back to France and play the last match of the pre-season against Auxerre.They will kick-start the 2024/2025 campaign on Sunday 18 August against Lille.##NAJAVA_MECA_8248958##
