NAIROBI, Kenya, October 26, 2025 – Kevin Oduor was the hero as Nairobi United beat Tunisia’s Etoile Sportive du Sahel to qualify for the group stages of the Caf Confederations Cup on Sunday night.
The goalkeeper saved two spotkicks as Naibois beat the African giants 7-6 on post-match penalties to seal a historic spot in the group stages of the prestigious competition at the first time of asking.
Nairobi United came into the second leg tie with a 2-0 lead from the first leg in Kenya and were seconds away from securing their place in the group stages but for a monumental blunder by Oduor.
The custodian came out of his goal to claim a cross from deep in Etoile’s half but unfortunately mistimed it as Gaffran Al Nawali got his head onto the ball to nick it into the goal for a 2-0 lead on the night.
Nairobi United had held on well until the 53rd minute before the Tunisians scored the opener after Rayan Anen connected well with a cutback.
Despite pushing forward for their second, Oduor remained resolute in goal, often coming out to claim the Tunisians’ crosses into the box.
With six of the seven minutes of added time already played — and with victory seemingly on the horizon — the Tunisians then equalised from Oduor’s blunder to take the game to penalties.
Villain-turned-hero
Oduor saved Etoile captain Nahim Nhid, which was the first spot kick, parrying the ball onto the bar to hand the initiative to his teammates.
However, Naibois’ first penalty taker, Frank Ouya, also missed his kick, leading to a back-and-forth in subsequent penalties.
John Otieno, Brian Mzee, Kevin Otiende, Lennox Ogutu, Chris Opondo and Brian Magare all converted successfully for Nicholas Muyoti’s charges before Cedric Gbo stepped up to take Etoile’s seventh spot kick.
The second half substitute shot directly at Oduor, giving the netminder the easiest of tasks to parry away the ball.
Oduor then took to the penalty spot to put the icing on the cake, converting successfully past his opposite number Ben Hassen to confirm Nairobi United’s place in the group stage, while silencing the capacity crowd in the stadium.
