Engin Firat questions CAF decision after CHAN defeat against South Sudan

Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania will co-host the eighth edition of the biennial tournament organised by CAF, featuring national teams consisting of players currently playing in their respective local leagues.

The tournament will take place from 1st to 28th February 2025 and it will be the first time being hosted in three countries. While host nations have automatic qualification for the tournament, the African body put the East African nations in the draw for the qualification campaign.

Kenya were drawn to face South Sudan and the two sides faced off on Sunday, October 27th at Juba National Stadium with the Bright Stars emerging 2-0 winners in the first leg meeting. The return leg will take place on Sunday, November 3rd, at 4pm (EAT) at the Stade Nelson Mandela Stadium in Uganda.

Firat’s line-up against South Sudan saw Bandari FC custodian Bryne Omondi starting between the sticks, while the defence revolved around Daniel Sakari, Sylvester Owino, Musa Mohammed and Geoffrey Ochieng. Chrispine Erambo took up the midfield role assisted by Marin Omondi and Austin Odhiambo while Patrick Otieno played behind strikers Rooney Onyango and Sydney Lokale.

After a 0-0 outcome in the first half, the Brights Stars looked the most dangerous side in the second period and they took the lead in the 50th minute through Ezbon before Yohanna scored the second in the 68th minute.

It doesn’t make sense to play in qualifiers

According to the Turkish coach, the decision by CAF to have host nations play in the qualifiers despite having the automatic qualification ticket, could have played a huge role in the team’s first leg defeat.

“It does not make sense for me especially if you know these are professional players who are used to playing for something but now, they have nothing to play for,” a fuming Firat told Flashscore.

“This is not something little, it is the most important thing in sport, to have something to play (for) and if you are a normal person, it affects you mentally.

“You know you have a match at the weekend so you don’t want to get injured so everything affects you. Therefore, these kinds of matches do not make sense for me. I cannot say the players benefited, how? I do not understand.”

Firat continued: “We had only one training session before the game and if you are 2-0 down you have nothing to lose anymore, therefore, we took all risks and tried but again you have to see that South Sudan pressed more but my boys were physically down in the last 20 minutes.”

Team work and determination helped South Sudan

Meanwhile, South Sudan head coach Nicolas Dupuis highlighted the team’s strong teamwork and determination as key factors in their victory against Kenya.

He emphasised the players' commitment to the game plan and their relentless effort on the field.

“It was a good game and I want to congratulate my players because they fought a lot during the game and want to thank the South Sudan Football Federation because the camp was good, when the camp is good, then it is more easy to win a game and it showed today against Kenya,” Dupuis told Flashscore.

Dupuis praised the players for their resilience and ability to execute strategies effectively and further expressed his optimism for the team’s future success, citing their potential for further growth and development.

“It was a difficult first half, Kenya had most of the ball, I think I saw 55 percent of ball possession but they didn’t have any opportunity to score and we had only one opportunity from a corner but we wasted the chance,” explained Dupuis.

“Second half was better because we played with one more offensive player and that is why we managed to score twice and the players were very aggressive throughout the game, they were good, they controlled the half, we have another game to win, it will not be easy to win in Uganda.

“I think we must work a lot, we cannot underrate them, we must be ready to win the second game and qualify, I don’t take we will approach the game differently, we are going to play the same game like we did in the first leg and I hope we will finish off the job in Uganda.”

The African Nations Championships (CHAN) is a biennial tournament created in 2009. The DR Congo and Morocco are the most successful teams in this tournament with two titles each, followed by Tunisia, Libya and incumbent champions Senegal with one title each.

The tournament began life in 2009 with eight teams, which was doubled for the 2nd edition up until the 6th and is currently contested by 18 teams since the 2022 edition.

Since the 2014 edition, matches of every edition of this tournament from qualification to the final are computed to calculate the forthcoming FIFA World Rankings following its conclusion, which CAF exclaimed at the time as an important step for the competition's development.