## Harambee Stars Coach Engin Firat Targets AFCON Qualification Amidst Tough Draw## Harambee Stars Coach Engin Firat Targets AFCON Qualification Amidst Tough Draw Kenya’s Harambee Stars coach, Engin Firat, has expressed his determination to lead the team to the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) despite facing a challenging qualifying group. Firat’s optimism stems from the team’s recent performance at the Four Nations tournament in March, where they defeated Zimbabwe 3-1. Tough Group Draw Kenya has been placed in Group J alongside five-time AFCON champions Cameroon, Namibia, and Zimbabwe. Cameroon is the clear favorite to top the group, while Namibia made an impressive run to the Round of 16 in the 2023 AFCON. Zimbabwe has also made three consecutive AFCON appearances from 2017 to 2021. Firat’s Ambition Despite the daunting group, Firat believes Kenya can qualify for the tournament. “It doesn’t matter how we qualify for AFCON 2025, whether first or second, we want to go to Morocco,” he said. Approach to the Qualifiers Firat acknowledges the strength of the opposition but sees it as an opportunity for Kenya to showcase its potential. “All of these good teams had good success in the past. We got Zimbabwe, the strongest team in Pot 4, because they were also banned and dropped in the rankings,” he added. “But it’s a very strong group. All of these good teams had good success in the past.” “From my side, I like when all teams are strong. This means everybody can beat everybody. It’s not so simple to go through.” Follow-Up To stay updated on the Harambee Stars’ progress in the AFCON 2025 qualifiers, follow @X on Twitter.
Harambee Stars coach Engin Firat has reacted to the qualifying draw for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations which saw Kenya pooled with Cameroon, Namibia and Zimbabwe.
Harambee Stars coach Engin Firat feels Kenya must be at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations after getting Cameroon, Namibia and Zimbabwe into their qualifying draw.
Kenya, like Zimbabwe, missed out on the qualifying phase for the 2023 tournament following a FIFA ban slapped on the two countries but now have a chance to right those wrongs and Firat is keen to ensure they do not miss out.
“It doesn’t matter how we qualify for AFCON 2025 whether first or second we want to go to Morocco,” Firat told journalist Eric Njiru.
Harambee Stars have faced a very tough AFCON 2025 qualifying group, which will include a tricky double-headed encounter against Cameroon.
The Turkish tactician is excited by Kenya’s opponents in Group J who he has termed ‘tough’ but feels it is what his team need to bring out their best in the qualifiers.
“It’s a very strong group. All of these good teams had good success in the past. We got Zimbabwe the strongest team in Pot 4 because you know they were also banned so they drop in rankings but they were good,” he added.
“From my side, I like when all teams are strong this means everybody can beat everybody. It’s not so simple to go through.
Engin Firat: “It doesn’t matter how we qualify for AFCON 2025 whether first or second we want to go to Morocco”.
Kenya coach Engin Firat reacted to the AFCON 2025 qualification draw that will see the Harambee Stars play Cameroon
, Namibia
and Zimbabwe
.
“It’s a very… pic.twitter.com/NRBEhA7tXQ
— Eric Njiru (@EricNjiiru) July 5, 2024
“Nothing changes like I said before the qualifiers we want to go to AFCON (it) doesn’t matter how first or second we want to be in Morocco.”
Five-time African champions Cameroon are the favourites to top the group on paper but Namibia will not be pushovers after their impressive run at the 2023 AFCON when they made it to the Round of 16 for the first time in their history.
Zimbabwe, meanwhile, had made three straight appearances (2017, 2019 and 2021) before their disqualification from the 2023 qualifiers but Kenya will approach them with confidence after beating them 3-1 at the Four Nations tournament in March.
Follow us on X (Twitter) for more updates.
