Harambee Stars Vice Captain on Why Teammates Must Avoid Complacency Despite Historic CHAN 2024 Quarter Final Place

Harambee Stars Vice Captain Boniface Muchiri has urged his teammates to remain grounded in their quest to eventually clinch the 2024 African Nations Championships (CHAN) title after sealing a quarter final place with a game to spare.

Buoyed by an excited home support, Kenya have upset the odds to navigate through a tough group consisting of DR Congo, Angola, Morocco and Zambia. 

They beat both Congo 1-0 in their opening game, drew 1-1 with Angola, before shocking Africa by beating Morocco 1-0. The latter two games saw them find a way to survive despite being reduced to 10 men.

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The Kenya President, William Ruto has also granted them hefty monetary rewards for their efforts so far. They are bagging one million shillings for ever win, 500,000 for every draw, and were also guaranteed a further 2.5 million if they managed to make the quarter finals, which they now have.

Each member of the squad will also win himself a two -bedroomed house as part of the country’s affordable housing programme.

It remains to be seen whether the incentives will be further increased if they make the semis or even the final.

Muchiri, who has been a key figure on the left wing, praised the team’s performances but stressed the need for focus.

“Winning is great, but the team improvement and performance was amazing. It was not luck. We deserved to win given the shift we put in,” he said.

“Everyone is happy, but we have to be grounded and stay humble. Let us not get carried away. We have a lot of work to do.”

He added that the team’s progress has been built on belief and planning, not on trying to silence critics.

“No one expected us to top the group. We are not here to prove anything to anyone. We are here to do our part because we have a plan and mission. We are really happy to be where we are today.”

Kenya will face Zambia in their final group match at Kasarani Stadium. A win would guarantee top spot and avoid a potential quarter-final trip to face hosts Tanzania’s Taifa Stars in Dar es Salaam.

For Muchiri, the message is clear: the dream is alive, but the work is far from done.