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Kenya coach Mulee praises Tanzania's high tempo in friendly
The tactician is now preparing the team for another build-up match against their neighbours before playing Egypt in the Afcon qualifiers
Kenya coach Jacob 'Ghost' Mulee is adamant Tanzania gave their best and disoriented the Harambee Stars especially during the first half in their 2-1 friendly win at Nyayo Stadium on Monday.
Erick Kapaito and Abdalla Hassan scored to ensure the hosts registered a second consecutive win after beating South Sudan 1-0 in the earlier friendly.
Ayub Lyanga scored the only goal for the opponents, who have engaged in their first test game ahead of the upcoming African Cup of Nations qualifiers.
The 53-year-old has further explained why Michael Mutinda was substituted after 30 minutes with Danson Namasaka taking his place.
"I would like to appreciate Tanzania for the game they have played, like in the first half they played with a high tempo and were doing a lot of interchanges," Mulee told Goal.
[The tempo] disoriented us a little; then we had Mutinda, we thought he had fully recovered from the injury he was nursing but it was not the case and we had to replace him."
However, the former Tusker FC coach was impressed with the outcome, further insisting the friendly matches will give him an opportunity to gauge the potential of every player.
James Saruni was one of the standout performers in the game and the coach has given his remarks on the goalkeeper.
"We had to make some tactical changes after the break to stop Tanzania's dominance which we witnessed in the first half," Mulee continued.
"As a result they did not have many chances after the break. But it has been a good build-up; we have gained. Playing three games in about six days is not easy but we are using the games to gauge every player out of the 27 we have in camp and see how things unfold.
"Saruni has been outstanding, he has done the work we wanted well and it shows he can be used in future assignments."
The two teams will meet again on Thursday in another friendly. Kenya are using the matches to prepare for their Afcon qualifiers against Egypt and Togo.
The Taifa Stars are also using the matches to prepare for the games against Equatorial Guinea and Libya.
