World Cup Qualifier: 'Half of Kenya not prepared vs Mali' - Omollo twitter facebook reddit twitter facebook reddit

Former Kenya international Sammy Omollo believes half of the team was not prepared to play Mali in the 2022 World Cup qualifier.

The East Africans fell 5-0 against the Eagles on Thursday night at Agadir Stadium in Morocco. A disastrous start saw Kenya concede four goals in the first half. Ibrahima Kone, who until then had not scored for the senior team, grabbed a hat-trick with another goal coming from Adama Traore.

Substitute Farouk Shikhalo completed the miserable night with an own goal after an intelligent work by Moussa Doumbia.

'We got it wrong from the start'

"Looking from the way Stars were playing, we got it wrong from the start," Omollo told Goal on Monday.

"The team selection was not good, and the major undoing was playing players out of position. For example, what was Joash Onyango doing at right-back when we know that is not his position? It is just an example.

"After that, it was all about making panic substitutions when things were falling out of place; and it made things even worse. It was like half the team was not prepared for the match and Mali exposed us badly. It was not about having a bad day in the office, but poor planning."

What was our strategy?

The Gor Mahia assistant coach has further questioned whether there was a plan in place for the team prior to the game.

"It is not even about missing experienced players in the midfield, we were not sure what to do when on the ball, off the ball and when we were being raided," Omollo added.

"It beats logic whether there was a proper plan for the team before the Thursday match.

"This is a national team and it is embarrassing when you concede like that. Things should be done better in the second meeting on Sunday. I hope the lesson has been learned."

After the win, Mali are on top of the group with seven points, while Uganda - who defeated Rwanda 1-0, come second with five. The Harambee Stars are third with two points while Amavubi remain at the bottom with one.