'Build the pressure': Firat reveals Kenya’s game plan against Zimbabwe and Namibia

The Harambee Stars, who are chasing for a seventh appearance at the 35th edition of the biennial African football tournament organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), will wind up their crucial Group J matches.

They will face the Warriors of Zimbabwe on Friday, November 15th at Peter Makoba Stadium in South Africa before winding up their Group J fixtures against the Brave Warriors of Namibia on Tuesday, November 19th at the same venue.

Kenya’s chances to qualify for the tournament scheduled for Morocco from December 21st 2025 to January 18th 2026, suffered a blow in matchday three and four after losing to five-time winners Cameroon home and away.

In the October fixtures, Kenya suffered a 4-1 defeat against the Indomitable Lions in the first meeting at Japoma Stadium, before going down 1-0 in the reverse fixture at the Stade Nelson Mandela Stadium in Uganda.

The outcome left Kenya sitting third in the group with four points accumulated from their opening 0-0 draw against Zimbabwe and 2-1 victory against Namibia. Heading into their final two matches, Cameroon are top with 10 points, Zimbabwe are second with eight while Namibia are last without a single point.

It means Kenya must win their two matches and hope that Zimbabwe drop points against Cameroon in their final game.

Zimbabwe have a lot of quality players

The former Moldova manager believes Kenya will deploy a different approach to counter Zimbabwe and Namibia, who he said play very deep and refuse to open the game.

“Namibia and Zimbabwe play against us very deep, so they like to keep it closed, they don’t open the game, Zimbabwe has a lot of quality players, playing in the Serie A, Premier League, French Ligue 1, and they have their full squad, nobody is missing, everybody is there,” Firat told Flashscore.

“However, we know that we have to put pressure on them, we have to push because they will not open the game, they will close the game and maybe try to find us on counters but we also have our ideas on how to open the game.”

Firat further outlined his plans to use Zimbabwe’s weak points to help win the game.

“We also know how to use the weak points and you can see up until now Zimbabwe have conceded only one goal and even Namibia even though they don’t have a point in our group are still a strong side and it makes you understand how strong our group is.”

He continued: “Some people don’t know how strong these teams are but we are aware of it and it doesn’t change that our main focus is to win the game, it is very clear because we want to win and qualify.”

The Turkish tactician said he will use some players from the 2024 Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifiers to boost his squad for the two matches.

“We had CHAN qualifiers and I will compare some of the players, who did very well, and integrate them into the team, we will try to find what is the best for the team because the reality is we don’t have players in the top leagues in Europe so therefore, it is very important for us to have a united team and my focus is to put the best players we have in camp for the two games.”

Though Kenya have already qualified for the CHAN tournament that they will co-host alongside Tanzania and Uganda, they failed to progress after suffering a 3-1 aggregate defeat against South Sudan.

The first leg in Juba saw Kenya suffer a 2-0 defeat before they snatched a 1-1 draw against the Bright Stars in Uganda.

Asked whether he was under pressure heading into the final group matches, Firat said: “If you cannot handle the pressure then you should leave football and do another job. For me, this is not something new and I am happy to go into these deciding matches so that I can put more pressure on myself and the players.”

Firat and his 23-man squad arrived safely in South Africa on Monday in readiness for the fixtures. In his squad, Firat overlooked goalkeeper Patrick Matasi and replaced him with Farouk Shikalo of Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Premier League table toppers KCB.

Apart from Matasi, other regular players dropped from the squad include Zak Vyner, who plays for EFL Championship club Bristol City, Gor Mahia trio of Geoffrey Ochieng, Alphonce Omija, Sylvester Owino and Tusker’s Chris Erambo.

Meanwhile, Firat handed U20 national team captain Amos Wanjala his first call-up to the senior team. Wanjala was impressive for the U20 team during the just concluded CECAFA region qualifiers for the U20 AFCON.

Zimbabwe in great position to book a ticket

Zimbabwe coach Michael Nees (57) believes the Warriors have a great chance to qualify from the group. Speaking on arrival in South Africa, the German tactician remained confident of finishing the job by booking a ticket to the tournament in the North African nation.

“We are happy about that because we are in a good position heading into the final two matches, we have the qualification fate in our hands and we are in a better position to qualify,” said Nees.

“We have to achieve that but our good position doesn’t mean that we get complacent, we have to make sure we complete the final step by winning our matches.

“We are prepared to finish the job, the players have shown good spirit in camp and I am sure they are ready to achieve the qualification ticket.”

While the Warriors have never qualified for the FIFA World Cup finals, they have qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) five times. After playing Kenya, Zimbabwe will wind up their group matches against Cameroon at Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium on Tuesday, November 19th.

Follow Kenya against Zimbabwe with Flashscore.