CHAN: Okwemba explains why Kenya failed to beat Madagascar

Former Kenya national team midfielder Charles Okwemba believes that the decision by the technical bench not to use midfielder Austin Odhiambo played a huge role in the team’s TotalEnergies African Nations Championship (CHAN) defeat against Madagascar on Friday.

Playing at Kasarani Stadium, Harambee Stars failed to progress to the semifinals following a 4-3 penalty defeat against Madagascar after a 1-1 draw in normal and extra-time. Odhiambo, who had scored against DR Congo in the 1-0 opening win and 1-1 draw against Angola, was missing from the starting XI despite his creativity in the midfield.

“The game needed a creative spark in that final third, but we lacked it, which significantly affected our possibilities of getting chances to hurt the opponent. Our subs didn’t give us the solutions we needed in that kind of game, unfortunately,” said Okwemba as quoted by Flashscore.

“Austin (Odhiambo) would have come in handy to offer that, but the technical bench knows better why they opted to keep him out all those minutes. I don’t want to comment much on that.”

He continued: “At 1-1, we made two substitutions which I felt were a bit hurried, bringing in debutants Austin (Odongo), and Edward Omondi, which was part of where we continued losing grip of the game. Ryan Ogam, and Boniface Muchiri should have stayed on in the game as they were the main threats against Madagascar.”

Okwemba, who played for AFC Leopards, added: “But trust me, Madagascar were a very beatable team, we just shot ourselves in the foot. After all, that’s soccer, these things happen, and I hope we have learnt our lessons.”