Ahead of their friendly match Harambee Stars at the Moi International Sports Center Kasarani, Mozambique head coach Luis Filipe Goncalves has revealed why they chose Francis Kimanzi’s side as their opponents for this month’s International break.
The tactician singled out the Harambee Stars’ Afcon 2019 participation as a metric to measure their strength even though Kenyans failed to advance past the group stage.
“Kenya was in AFCON this year and it will be very important to face them before playing Rwanda in November and this game gives me time to consolidate our game model and to see how the young players we called up can perform,” he told the media during an open training session at the Kasarani Stadium.
The sentiments were echoed by the team’s captain Gaspar Pelembe who said he expects a tough encounter Harambee Stars.
“We are going to face a strong team which is playing at home but we are coming to compete. We know Kenya has a new coach and they will fight for a win too as they enjoy the home advantage too” Pelembe said.
The match will be in preparation for the forthcoming Africa Cup Of Nations 2021 qualifiers. Kenya will be away to Egypt while Mozambique will start its qualifying campaign with a home clash against Rwanda.
The OS Mambas are in group F alongside Cameroon, Rwanda and Cape Verde while Harambee Stars are in Group G with Egypt, Togo and the Comoros Islands.