NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 2 – Second half goals from the dynamic Gor Mahia duo of Austin Odhiambo and Benson Omalla saw Kenya’s U23 team, the Emerging Stars, beat Zimbabwe 2-0 in Port Elizabeth on Tuesday afternoon in their final Group B match at the COSAFA Cup.
The victory took Kenya to second spot in the group, behind group winners Comoros, who beat Zambia 1-0 in the other match played concurrently.
Kenya’s hopes of a semi-final place are only dependent on if they can be ranked as the best second placed team in the competition.
The Emerging Stars now hope that one of Angola and Namibia, from Group C, lose their final matches tomorrow, for them to sneak in.
Both Angola and Namibia are on four points. They face Lesotho and Seychelles respectively, with the two sides having picked only a point each after two games.
Stars were faced with a must win match against Zimbabwe, hitherto group leaders, if they had to rake in any hopes of a semi-final after losing to Comoros on Sunday.
Cagy first half
The first half was cagy, with few outright opportunities at goal. Kenya had two half chances, Rooney Onyango shooting over from the edge of the box after picking a loose ball while Hassan Beja couldn’t control the ball from close range after the keeper had spilled a Geoffrey Onyango cross.
In the second half, Kenya started with pace and they broke the deadlock just six minutes after the restart when Odhiambo rifled in the ball from the right after picking a cross from skipper Rooney.
Omalla then gave the game a distance in the 69th minute when he extended a foot after running to a long ball, lifting it over the keeper who had come off his line.
The Zimbabweans, who had not conceded a goal in the tournament, gave in a fight to try get back into contention, but Stars defended well to secure the win.
