Harambee Stars head coach Paul Put instructs his players in a past training session.He believes the team can make it to the Afcon tournament in 2019.(hivisasa.com)
National soccer side Harambee Stars head coach Paul Put has expressed optimism in the team's ability to impress in their African Cup of Nation (Afcon) qualifying matches and even make it to the continental showpiece to held in 2019 in Cameroon owing to their good quality.
Stars recently defied the odds to bag the Cecafa senior challenge cup without losing a single match and the Belgian believes that with a little mix with the foreign legion comprising the likes of Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Victor Wanyama and Girona's Michael Olunga among others will make Kenya a force to reckon with.
"We did well in the showpiece (Cecafa) but my focus now shifts to qualfying for 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.We need frendlies before our next qualification match to gauge our progress and I believe with the foreign based players and the ones that I have just had,we can do great things," he told local sports website, Soka on Friday.
Stars had a false start to their Afcon qualification campaign losing 1-2 to minnows Sierra Leone in Freetown in June.Their next match is against African giants Ghana in September 2018 before a back to back tie against neighbours Ethiopia in October.
The country is however beginning to regain its spark and climbed five places in the latest Fifa rankings released on Friday,December 22.