Kenya U20 conceded ‘cheap goals’ in Morocco loss - Akhulia

Photo Credit - Football Kenya Federation.

Kenya Under-20 national team assistant coach Anthony Akhulia has blamed his defenders for conceding cheap goals during their opening fixture of the U20 Africa Cup of Nations against Morocco in Egypt on Thursday.

During the Group B fixture at the 30 June Stadium in Cairo, Morocco got their campaign off to a winning start with a dramatic 3-2 victory. The North Africans had to come from behind twice before securing a win in a pulsating contest that swung from end to end.

Kenya scored first in the 16th minute when Lawrence Ouma rose highest to head home Kevin Injehu’s pinpoint free-kick. However, Morocco levelled matters when a scramble in the box enabled Yassir Zabiri to make it 1-1 at half-time.

Zabiri doubled his tally with a sharp header from close range to give Morocco the lead, before Hassan Beja rifled in a shot from the centre of the box, following clever link-up play with Aldrine Kibet to make it 2-2.

Morocco, once again, took the lead in the 78th minute when Reda Laalaoui latched onto a clever pass from Saad El Haddad and slotted past the keeper with composure to make it 3-2. There was late drama when Morocco were awarded a penalty in the 89th minute, but Othmane Maamma’s effort was saved by Kenyan keeper Bernard Jairo.

“The team played well and it is just unfortunate that we lost the match. We created numerous scoring chances that we didn’t really take, but for overall performance, first I will congratulate Morocco for the win. We have got two matches to go and we will have to do our best to win the matches,” said Akhulia after the game.

“We will try and score goals, we will try to defend well and win the two remaining matches. I won’t really comment on the officiating part, I think the referee did her job. On our side, we were supposed to take our chances, and win the match.

“We were supposed to win the match, and that is my take. We didn’t defend well, we gave away, I can call them cheap goals, because looking at the way we conceded especially on two goals, the defence was caught napping. We really didn’t react to situations well, but I think those are things we can work on in training and come back a better team.”

Kenya will return to action against Tunisia, who suffered a 1-0 defeat against Nigeria, at 30 June Stadium on Sunday.