Olunga absence explained as Kenya departs for Senegal friendly

Kenya national team assistant coach Vasili Manousakis has cleared the air on why lead striker and captain Michael Olunga was dropped from Harambee Stars for the November friendly matches.

The East African nation will play two friendly matches in Antalya, Turkey. Kenya will first come up against Equatorial Guinea on November 14th at the Emir Complex Stadium, before taking on Senegal on November 18th at the Mardan Sports Complex.

However, while naming the squad, coach Benni McCarthy left out Olunga, who is currently chasing for the all-time record of top scorer for Kenya. While many wondered if he was out injured, Manousakis confirmed Olunga was given time to rest.

Olunga was handed a little time to rest

“We gave some guys a little time off, Collins Shichenje, and of course skipper Michal Olunga, so that was the thinking behind their names missing out, I know when you look over those players that are stepping up, we had to refresh the team, and suddenly have done it with a crop of youngsters,” said the South African coach.

He added: “Vincent Harper, Manzour Suleiman, Timothy Ouma, Job Ochieng, and Adam Wilson, those are all really niggles injuries, tight congestion of fixtures in their domestic leagues.”

Apart from Olunga, several players who featured during the 2026 World Cup qualifiers were also overlooked. Asked to explain the reason behind it, Manousakis responded: “We needed to freshen things up, some of those changes there have been a lot of niggles, a lot of injuries.

“Adam Wilson, and Job Ochieng, and who else… a little bit of Manzour Suleiman to protect him, Vincent Harper, Timothy Ouma, once I start going through all those players, you know we are a little bit off the back foot.

“But it is a good opportunity for the boys coming in with absolutely no pressure, because it is friendly, and it gives them a test of playing senior football against some of the best opponents on the continent, so that is the objective, to give them a test, and see how they respond.”

Harambee Stars have already departed for Turkey in readiness for the two matches.

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