Cecafa: Burundi leaves Kenya coach with selection headache

Harambee Stars coach Paul Put and Stanley Okumbi

Harambee Stars coach Paul Put will be scratching his head as he tries to come up with the squad to face either Zanzibar or Uganda in Cecafa final on Sunday.

Stars secured a final berth after a slim 1-0 win against Burundi in the semi-final stage on Thursday in Kisumu. AFC Leopards midfielder, Whyvonne Isuza scored the lone goal after receiving a nice pass from substitute Samuel Onyango.

But the win came with a fair share of tribulations to the Belgian, who is under pressure to lift his maiden title with Kenya following his appointment last August.

Harambee Stars have scored only four goals in five games so far; two of them coming from midfielders Duncan Otieno and Isuza. The other two were converted by strikers, Masoud Juma and Vincent Oburu.

With such a bad conversion record from the goal-shy Stars forwards, Put will need all his strikers available for selection when he names squad for the final, knowing too well that Kenyan fans are desperate for a first Cecafa title since 2013.

The coach, however, will not have that privilege after Oburu joined Masoud in the list of crocked players that also includes captain Musa Mohammed.

Oburu and Mohammed limped off the pitch in the win against Burundi with what looked like serious injuries for both players. Masoud picked a knock in Kenya’s stalemate against Libya in the second match of Group A.

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