Take Senegal beatings on the chin, U20 boss Kamau says

The national Under-20 football team coach John Kamau has urged his charges to take the punishment they received in Senegal over the weekend as a steep learning curve to their development as a future potent side.

The Kenyans were on the receiving end of a 2-0 stuffing on Friday that preceded a 4-0 drubbing on Sunday by their hosts Senegal in Dakar but Kamau was optimistic the defeats were eye openers on what they need to do to match the best in the continent.

Kamau will lead his side to another tough friendly in Cairo on Monday when the Kenya Under 20s take on their hosts Egypt in a tie initially set for Nairobi.

“We counted a lot of gains from the outing although it may not be reflected on the results. Such high profile matches tell us where we are and we are doing well.

“Senegal was a good side but we gave a good account of ourselves only to concede through poor defending of set pieces,” the coach told Citizen Digital after conducting recovery training following their arrival from Dakar.

“In the first match they scored from a corner then the second through a penalty that was unfairly awarded and in the second game we conceded thrice from set pieces. It is a concern since by South Africa through the same,” Kamau claimed.

The coach also blamed poor finishing for the dismal performance, saying he will work on sharpening his forwards ahead of the Egypt tie.

“From a coaching perspective, when you create chances three quarters of your job is done, only quarter is remaining is converting them. In the first match we had five clear cut chances from open play which we wasted.

“The second match was however trickier with my players fatigued after a long journey to from Nairobi and playing the first game then resting for only 48 hours. The minimum 72 hours recommended for super compensation were slashed which affected them,” the tactician added.

Kamau claimed technically they were at par with Senegal but lost out to their superior physical strength.

The Under 20 boss is yet to settle on his first team as he announced that competition for places in the squad was open.

“By the end of the year we should have a team we can consistently rely on but we have to give chances to the players within the right age who have shown big potential.

“However, the mix of the players we have for short-term, intermediate and long-term must be present in the team because we could not have changed the whole team at ago after the suspension from the African Cup last year,” Kamau emphasised.

At the same time, the head coach has called on the Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association to help in processing passports for the players in their institutions.

This is after the trip to Dakar almost went bust for some players who did not have the travelling document.