Emerse Faé, who. was appointed permanent Ivory Coast coach after AFCON win, says his defenders will keep an eye on Kenya’s prololific striker Michael Olunga.
Kenya’s Harambee Stars will tackle African Champions Elephants of Ivory Coast in a Group F march at Bingu Stadium in Lilongwe.
During an international presser, Emerse candidly admitted that he is not taking their match adversaries lightly.
“Olunga is a very good player he is not very famous globally in the world of football but then again, we have to keep an eye on him because he is a very lethal striker, he is a player who is capable to score any time and from any position. But we have to be focused not only against pOlunga but also on the Kenyan team,” Emerse said.
The Ivorian ttactician has since warned his platers against complacency.
” Today in Africa there are no small teams. All teams are now playing well. Kenya wants to show that they can beat the best team of the moment. We have two goals, to the to the World Cup and qualify for the next AFCON in Morocco because Ivory Coast missed the last two Eorld Cups, we want to keep the cup in Morocco .” Emerse said.
Emerse added that: It’s important for the team to keep winning.
Olunga on his part appreciated Emerse ‘s but noted that teamwork will.be key for the team’s success.
“It’s good the Ivorian coach appreciated the good effort I have made in my career but football is a team sport and there are certain players who are also good and to here him speaks highly of me but it’s good to focus on the whole group.”
Kenya settled for a 1-1 draw with Burundi last Friday but the Kenyan Captain Olunga said they are putting the match behind them to focus on the task ahead.
Olunga “After the :draw, the team wanted to take maximum points against Burundi, so it was unfortunate we couldn’t get maximum points. Of course it was a setback, still if you look at it we took one point . I believe every geme really matters. The team is really focused for the assignment against Ivory Coast of course they are the African champion and pose a different threat.”
The Kenyan Capgain added: ” The most important thing is going back to the drawing board and to minimise our mistakes against Ivory Coast, each and every team is competitive and the group is open.”
Kenya and Ivory Coast went through light training at Bingu Stadium where gonorowsbmatchbwill gale place.
Faé, was an assistant when the AFCON tournament kicked off, but was handed the reins when Frenchman Jean-Louis Gasset was sacked mid-tournament after they lost two of their three group games.
