Harambee Stars go down to lowly ranked Mauritius

Harambee Stars captain Michael Olunga.[Courtesy,Twitter]

Harambee Stars on Sunday lost 1-0 to lowly ranked Mauritius as curtains fall on the Four Nation International Friendlies played at the Cote D'Or National Sports Complex in Port Louis, Mauritius.

Kengy Saramandif first half goal was enough to hand the hosts a historic win over Kenya as they completed their first ever win against Harambee Stars. Mauritius are ranked in position 180 in the FIFA ranking, 78 places below Kenya.

Saramandif's name will surely be on the headlines of the Island nation for the next few months as Mauritius not only ended their losing streak against Kenya but also picked their second win in over four years. Their first win since 2019 came on June 11 when they saw off Pakistan 3-0.

Building up to the match, Mauritius had played Kenya four times with the best result the Island nation has gotten is a draw in 1997 (2-2) and 2015 (0-0) World Cup qualifiers. Kenya has on the other hand won 3-1 and 5-2 in the respective return leg of the qualifiers matches.

Ironically, Stars' wins have come away to Mauritius but they have struggled to edge them in Nairobi.

Yesterday, Firat hoped history would repeat itself but Saramandif had other ideas.

After a cagy opening 22 minutes, the 26-year-old midfielder capitalized on Kenya's defensive lapse to tap in an easy goal that lifted fans up in celebration.

Kevin Bru delivered a corner kick that was headed on target but Kenya keeper Bryne Omondi failed to hold on to the ball inches away from the line and the rushing midfielder was well-placed to poke home as the Stars defense watched.

The uninspiring half from Kenya ended with the home team holding a 1-0 advantage as Firat went to the dressing room looking to return with answers.

In the final half, the Turkish tactician removed FKF Premier League top scorer Benson Omalla and AFC Leopards' Victor Omune in place off last Tuesday's hero Moses Shumah who netted the winner against Pakistan alongside Omar Khamisi.

Stars begun the game on the front food with numerous attacks in search of an equalizer but the hosts backed with their noisy fans stood tall at the defense.

With Firat growing impatient with lack of an equalizer, he brought on Daniel Sakari for Clifton Miheso but the change did no good for struggling stars who continued to play over hit crosses into the box and miss passes in the opposite box.

Shumah had a rare sniff on goal in the 68th minute, but his shot was saved by the home team's keeper Jean-Louis.

That was followed by an attack by the hosts as Bryne Odhiambo was forced to pull a huge save to deny Jeremy Villeneuve, who found space on the blind side of Kenya's defense to send a long range effort.

Minutes later, Michael Olunga's long-range effort troubled Mauritius keeper Jean-Louis after neat exchange of passes with second half substitute Moses Shumah but the goalkeeper recovered to hold on to the loose ball.

In the 79th minute, Shumah missed a direct header as Jean-Louis rushed from goal to punch the loose ball out for a corner that Kenya again failed to utilize.

Firat will now go back to the drawing board as he loses his fourth match while in charge of Stars.

In seven matches, Firat has lost four, drawn once and won twice.