The African Challenge Cup tournament continues. Yesterday, the Kenya-Stockholm team was thwacked 7-0 by the Tanzanians in a match that started well but ended disastrously for the Kenyans. The Tanzanian team, which is the current champions in the tournament, is an extremely strong team and the Kenyans never underrated them from the time go. They are a well-knit team with a fast game and a tactical defence that spoilt scoring opportunities for the Kenyans.
Just about ten minutes into the game, the Tanzanians scored their first goal but this did not dampen the spirits of the Kenyans. Moments later, they increased their lead to 2-0 before the Kenyans equalized minutes before half time.
It was during the second half that the situation began to grow from bad to worse for the Kenyans. The Tanzanians began to score into the Kenyan goal almost at equal time intervals and by the time the final whistle was blown, it was clear that the Kenyans had been beated.
Backed by a huge crowd of supporters, the Kenyans tried their best although they seemed to appreciate the fact that the Tanzanians were more organized.
Today, the Kenyans are meeting Benin, a match that they need to win if they have to retain hopes of moving forward in the tournament. The match will be held at the same venue – Skarpnäck Sports ground from 14.00hrs. If the Kenyans cannot beat the rest of their opponents, they will have to say goodbye to the tournament and wait for next year.
Speaking to KSB, Coach Makan Macharia sounded upbeat that despite the set-back, they still have a good chance of advancing because the Tanzanians are the toughest in group A. “We still have a very good chance and much will depend on the number of goals we can collect and the matches we can win”, Makan told KSB.
In terms of support, the Kenyans had a massive crowd compared to the Tanzanians and although the fans were disappointed, most of those interviewed were satisfied that the Kenyans did their best. Supporters could only hope that the team will be able to move forward by collecting every victory possible in the remaining matches.
Okoth Osewe
About the Author
We probably also need a better goalie. The TZ team thwacked us last summer too.
i can see a big defference here. here instead of really praising the tanzanians instead you sympatize with the kenyans. thats really sad :S
KSB: Welcome to the Club. KSB is not a newspaper reporting stuff. It is a blog (a personal diary) where contributors come to play after a hard day’s work. The Kenya-Cameroon storo may be biased but we did mention that the Cameroonians played a good game. We could do a fresh storo to fit into yr taste but at the end of the day, the Cams were thwacked. Relax, pick up the humour and continue with life. We fear that you may suffer from depression if you continue viewing the storo through a lense clouded with “the fog of objectivity” and balanced journalism.