Kenya’s Rising Stars made history by becoming the first ever men’s junior side to qualify for the AFCON U-20 Cup of Nations after overcoming Burundi 4-0 in a clash that took place at the Azam Sports Complex on Friday night.
Second half goals from Lawrence Okoth, Hassan Beja, Aldrine Kibet and Louis Ingavi were enough to give them a 4-0 win and seal their ticket to the 2025 AFCON U-20 tournament prospectively set to take place in March of the same year.
Both sides barely tested each other in the opening 15 minutes, but there was a heart-palpitating moment for Kenya when captain Amos Wanjala needlessly turned over possession, but Ibrahim Wanzala was alert enough to make make a parried save, towards Manzur Suleiman, who cleared it away.
Kevin Wangaya. Big breath of fresh air. The average Kenyan midfielder is more of a workhorse that passes sideways
Wangaya’s different. Good at dropping deep to receive ball, playing on the half turn & spraying killer balls forward. Can also strike the ball well.#FootballKE pic.twitter.com/8VxE1vToe2
— Mark Kinyanjui (@Kiinya_Y)
October 17, 2024
Kenya had two more opportunities to go ahead. The first in the 25th minute when William Mwangi received the ball on the right side and expertly dribbled past two men, before cutting it back across goal towards Beja who hit the shot wide.
The second came moments later after receiving a defence-splitting pass from Andres Omondi, but the Burundi keeper was quick to smell the danger and make a well timed rushout claim.
Kenya would create another opportunity in the 29th minute, but this time, it was Lawrence Okoth who missed his chance to get the team to take the lead after the effervescent Mwangi created another good chance from the right wing.
Aldrine Kibet scored a hat-trick with Kevin Wangaya netting his fourth goal of the tournament, as Salim Babu’s charges cruised to an easy 4-0 win.
In the 35th minute, Kenya worked the ball well into the box before it landed onto the feet of Baron Ochieng, who hit the ball straight at the keeper leaving the game tied at the break.
In the second half, Kenya started gaining momentum after being pinned back for the opening few minutes, but soon, Babu’s charges would be the ones smiling, as Okoth atoned for his earlier miss in the first half by finding the back of the net after receiving a good pass from Mwangi in the 51st minute.
The build up came from a deep freekick well excecuted by Rodgers Obusu who expertly found Okoth, before he used his strength to hold it up and find Mwangi, before the Bandari winger controlled it well to set it up back for him, sending the Kenyan camp into delirium.
Kenya would add a second through Beja when he got on the end of a fantastic through ball from Aldrine Kibet and then attempted a shot which richochetted of the goalkeeper, before he comically chested the ball into the back of the net.
No sooner had they scored three, they were already celebrating the third in the 69th minute when the provider for the second scored the third himself after carrying the ball forwards dynamically and beating five Burundi players, before setting himself up nicely to make it three.
Louise Ingavi would ice the cake with a fourth goal in the 90th minute to surely wrap up a comfortable win for the Kenyans.
In the end, all the three goals would be enough to see Kenya seal a slot at the tournament for next year, as well as the final against Tanzania on Sunday.
