This archive report was first published on 3 July 2019.
On July 2, 2019, Kenya's national football team, Harambee Stars, suffered a setback in their bid to qualify for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations finals. A draw between Cameroon and Benin sealed their fate, leaving the Stars with a negative goal difference of four and three points.
The Stars needed Cameroon to beat Benin and Mali to beat Angola in another match to qualify, but this was not to be. The draw between Cameroon and Benin meant that Benin moved to three points with a better goal difference than Kenya, effectively locking the Stars out of the competition.
The best four losers after the Benin match were Guinea on four points, DR Congo with three points, South Africa and Benin, both on three points, in that order.
Despite their elimination, the team was hosted to a luncheon on Tuesday afternoon by Kenya's Ambassador in Egypt, Jeff Otieno, aboard the Nile Cruise Ship. Sports CS Amina Mohamed and FKF chief Nick Mwendwa were also in attendance.
Speaking at the luncheon, Amina hailed the team for their brave show in the competition, saying there were a lot of positives to pick from the tourney. 'The boys have done really well and we are proud of the work we've done together. The facilitation and the support we've provided, and they didn't take all that for granted,' she said.
Added Amina: 'They gave their best. They scarified, they made the effort, they played hard, you could tell from the first half with Senegal that our boys are really going places… and I would really like to tell Kenyans to watch this space because this team is not going to stop here, it's going to do well.'
