Harambee Stars celebrating the opening goal against Zambia (C) COSAFA Media
The Emerging Stars take to the pitch this afternoon from 1PM EAT to play Comoros in their second Group B game of the 2024 COSAFA Cup.
The match will be played at the Wolfson Stadium in Ibhayi, a township in South Africa's Eastern Cape Province city of Port Elizabeth.
Kenya, who impressed in their opening match with a 2-0 victory over defending champions Zambia, will be going for nothing less than a victory, a result that should see them put one foot in the semifinals.
The Comoros, 1-0 losers against Zimbabwe in their first match of the tournament, will also be striving hard for a win, which, assuming Zimbabwe falters against Zambia, should open up Group B and give all teams a chance to qualify for the semifinals going into their final group games.
The 2024 COSAFA Cup features twelve teams divided into three groups of four. Group A hosts South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique, and eSwatini.
Group C has Angola, last year's runner-up, Lesotho, Namibia, and the Seychelles.
The best team in each group qualifies automatically for the semifinals, while the remaining slot will go to the best second-placed team.
Emerging Stars, therefore, stand a chance of featuring in the last four if they collect at least four points in their last two matches in the group stage.
In terms of the head-to-head record, Emerging Stars and Comoros are evenly poised. In their five meetings to date, each team has won once, with the remaining three matches being draws. Each team has scored six goals.
Despite the balance in the head-to-head record, Kenya has been winless in its last four matches against the Indian Ocean islanders, who also won the last encounter between the countries, a 2-1 victory in a 2021 AFCON qualifier match played in November 2020.
It is the motivation to end that four-match winless streak that will spur the Emerging Stars in Sunday's match.
Also, having exited the group stage in their only previous COSAFA Cup appearance in 2013, Kenya should fight hard for a win against Comoros to make a step towards improving that record.
Speaking of the COSAFA Cup record, Comoros' history in the competition leaves a lot to be desired. The Comoros have only gone beyond the group stages once in six tournament appearances. That was during the 2019 tournament, a period during which the nation's football was on the rise as they went on to qualify for their first ever AFCON tournament the following year.
Therefore, Emerging Stars should be encouraged to take advantage of Comoros poor record in the competition, which has seen them lose seven of their last 10 COSAFA Cup matches.
Kenya employed a cautious approach against Zambia, which paid off well as their efficiency in attack was complemented by a resolute defence.
It is unlikely that the Emerging Stars' coach, Ken Odhiambo, will use the same approach on Sunday, as the formbook suggests that Comoros should not strain Kenya as much as Zambia did.
With their confidence boosted by the 2-0 win over Zambia, it should be more appealing to watch an enterprising Emerging Stars on Saturday.
After the match, Kenya will also have another quick turnaround as they are expected to play against Zimbabwe in their final group game on Tuesday, July 2, 2024. That match will also be played in Ibhayi.
