INTERNATIONAL FREINDLY
Harambee Stars, Burundi set to play international friendly matches in Asia
The national teams of Kenya and Burundi are set to play international friendly matches in Asia.
Burundi’s national team that traveled on Monday via Addis Ababa will be in South East Asia to face Indonesia in two matches in Jarkata. The first match will be played on Saturday, while the second match will take place after three days.
Etienne Ndayiragije, the new Burundi national coach has said the two friendly matches will help him assess his players as they prepare for the forthcoming TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers.
“Having these two friendly matches come at the right time for a coach because it will give us time to make several assessments and also see where we must improve,” added the former Tanzania head coach Ndayiragije.
Burundi are placed in Group C of the 2023 AFCON qualifiers together with Cameroon and Namibia. Kenya who were also meant to be in the same group were disqualified because the Kenya Football body was still suspended by FIFA when the qualifiers kicked off last year.
While Burundi will play in East Asia, the Harambee Stars of Kenya who have been out of action for a while will be playing in South Western Asia against Iran.
The Harambee Stars who are currently preparing will face Iran on March 28th in Tehran. It will be Kenya’s first international engagement in over a year after its suspension by the World football governing body FIFA.
Kenya was originally scheduled to play Burundi in two friendly matches, but changes were made by the two Member Associations.
Engin Firat, the Harambee Stars head coach has made it clear that facing Iran will provide a good test. “Iran is a world-class team and playing a tough opponent is a chance to push our players to the maximum, to make them familiar with high-level football,” added the coach.
While Burundi and Kenya will be involved with international friendly matches, the other teams from the CECAFA Zone Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Sudan and South Sudan will be involved in 2023 AFCON qualifier matches between March 23-28th, 2023.