Take him out! Fans lash out against Harambee Stars coach Engin Firat following their defeat to Gabon.
Following the disheartening 2-1 defeat to Gabon in the first round of the 2026 Fifa World Cup qualification matches, Kenyan football supporters have lashed out at the men’s national football team, usually referred to as the Harambee Stars, and its coach Engin Firat.
While calling for Firat, a Turkish national, to be fired, Harambee Stars captain Michael Olunga was singled out for criticism for underperforming with the national team despite scoring for Al Duhail in the Qatar Stars League.
“If we are serious about making the national team, we need to get Firat off the field as soon as possible.” “We can just have a coach who is good at pie chart presentation but not so good at field tactics,” remarked Alex Ngare, a football enthusiast, on Facebook.
This was in response to Firat’s recent activities, in which he arrived at press conferences prepared with PowerPoint presentations, replete with diagrams depicting his team’s style of play.
“It is not the players that are the issue. Gabon has which major players? The issue is that we hired a coach with no winning record,” Kevin Lusi stated.
The crowd also chastised Olunga, who has seven league goals for Al Duhail this season but has struggled when he wears the national team shirt.
Olunga last scored for Kenya in a friendly match against Iran in March 2023.
“Michael Olunga is overrated,” Kevin Wuod Nyarjimo said.
Others sought forgiveness from former Harambee Stars Victor Wanyama, affectionately known as the Lion of Muthurwa, claiming the country has been plagued by disappointing performances and results since he was abruptly dropped from the national team in 2021 by former coach Jacob ‘Ghost’ Mulee.
Richard Odada has subsequently replaced Wanyama.
Kenya will play Seychelles in a Group ‘F’ match at the Stade Félix Houphouet-Boigny in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on November 19, 2023.
Kenya’s pool also includes teams from Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Burundi, and Gabon.
