Stars pleased with AFCON draw in Cairo. Egypt

Harambee Stars Captain Mohamed Musa (third right) leads his team to acknowledge fans' cheers before match kickoff against Ghana during African Cup of Nations qualifier match at Moi Sports Centre Kasarani. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

Friday night’s 2019 African Cup of Nations draw in Cairo, Egypt, has generated different reactions in Kenya and the continent at large.

And with national team Harambee Stars having been drawn in Group C alongside pre-tournament favourites Senegal for the third time (1990 and 2004), Algeria and neighbouring Tanzania in what appears to be a relatively fair group, there is a sense of belief across the country that Sebastian Migne’s side is likely to pull off some upsets in the tournament.

But Harambee Stars will have to draw some inspiration from Gor Mahia’s performance against Tanzanian and North African clubs in club competitions.

Although, Kenya have never qualified for the second round of the biennial tournament, former national team coach Jacob ‘Ghost’ Mulee, who led the team to the 2004 finals in Tunisia, believes with good preparation the current squad can write history in Egypt.

“Going by what happened at the World Cup, there will be a lot of surprises in Egypt. It doesn’t matter who we’ve been paired with because the space between developed and developing teams has been minimised. We’ve a solid team and with six best losers qualifying to next round, we stand a chance to progress,” said Mule.

Former international John Barasa, who scored the third goal in Stars’ 3-0 win over Burkina Faso in Tunisia, said: “I think that’s a fair draw and if we prepare well, we have a chance to sneak through to the next round. We have played against Senegal before and with their current multi-talented squad, we know what they are capable of,” said Barasa.

“With Algeria, basing on how Gor Mahia has played against their clubs in CAF competitions, I think we can handle them. For Tanzania, that’s an East African derby and with such matches, there is no favourite.”

“This is a moment for this generation of players to write their own history. When we went to Tunisia, our target was at least to get a win and we were all happy because we achieved it. Unlike our time, these players don’t have anything to complain about because they’ve been well supported by the government and the federation,” said Barasa.

“There is big difference in terms of motivation between them and the 2004 squad. Though we also camped in England for a month before the tournament, we only got Sh100,000 in allowances throughout the tournament, which is far lower than what this team is going to get while in France. Now, with this motivation it is up to them to deliver a second round ticket to Kenyans.”

Harambee Stars players warmly welcomed the draw with Swedish-based left back Eric Ouma, Zambia’s Nkana centre half Musa Mohammed terming it ‘favourable’.

They said they are not afraid of meeting the likes of Senegal’s Sadio Mane and Algeria’s Riyad Mahrez.

“We qualified to play with the best but one thing is for sure, Mane and Mahrez are not the only talented players we will play against. So we can’t be afraid of them because we also have two legs. But our mentality will play a big role in our performance in the tournament,” said Ouma.

Mohammed said: “I believe we can match those teams. We have grown mentally and physically.”