Harambee Stars captain Michael Olunga has spoken about the disappointment of failing to qualify the team to the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations finals.Stars drew 1-1 with Zimbabwe on Friday at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane City to finish third in their group and effectively end their hopes of going to Morocco in 2025.In an exclusive interview at the team’s hotel, Olunga admitted that the players were devastated and are yet to accept the fact that they are out.##NAJAVA_MECA_8502090##“It is a difficult moment for all of us to process at this time. We are all disappointed that we could not finish on a high despite trying our best,” he said.Olunga said while they had challenges in their way, this is not the right time to apportion blame but instead to reflect and point out where they went wrong and work on making it better next time.“It is a collective responsibility, and the players, management, and technical bench have to look into the things that need to be fixed so that future assignments don’t end in disappointment like this.”Former international calls for Engin Firat’s sacking after AFCON missAccording to Olunga, the team lost it when they went down to Cameroon in back-to-back fixtures last month.“If you look at our group, we only lost two matches back to back, and that was against Cameroon. Though Cameroon were the clear favorites, had we picked one point against them, we would have had a realistic chance of qualifying,” he said.Scout reveals why Kenyan midfielder is linked to Manchester United and BrentfordOlunga has now called on the government and Football Kenya Federation (FKF) to prioritize the development of infrastructure so that the team can play its home matches at home.“Playing at home obviously is a big motivation factor. The last time we played at home was three years ago, and while we don’t want to use this as an excuse, it makes a difference, and we should all work towards ensuring that we have the stadium ready.”
