Harambee Stars denied Angola a late winner in a dramatic second match of the African Nations Championship (CHAN), held on Thursday night, August 7, at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani.
Angola struck early, with Jo Paciencia finding the back of the net in the seventh minute. However, Kenya responded quickly. Midfielder Austin Odhiambo earned a penalty after a VAR review confirmed Fabricio Mafuta had committed a foul inside the box.
Odhiambo, who plays for Gor Mahia, confidently converted the spot-kick in the 12th minute, placing the ball into the bottom left corner to score his second goal of the tournament.
Angola thought they had clinched a stoppage-time victory when João Chingando Manha, known as Kaporal, tucked in a rebound. But the goal was ruled out after another VAR check determined it to be offside, adding to the high-stakes drama of the closing minutes.
The game took a turn in the 21st minute when Kenyan midfielder Marvin Nabwire saw his yellow card upgraded to a red, again following VAR intervention, leaving Harambee Stars a man down for the remainder of the match.
After the final whistle, Angola’s head coach Pedro Gonçalves spoke about the disallowed goal.
“I didn’t watch the game on the TV, I believe it, I believe that it’s fair, that’s why it exists. But I must watch it, I believe that, but I haven’t watched the game on TV yet,” he said.
Looking ahead, Gonçalves emphasized the need to regroup and correct their mistakes before their next group match against Zambia, which he described as a must-win encounter.
He acknowledged that facing Morocco and Kenya had pushed his squad to their limits and provided valuable lessons.
“Well, right now is to recover the players and tomorrow, wake up with a philosophy and mentality to create a strategy to beat Zambia for sure. We have two heavy matches…we played against Morocco, the best country in football in Africa, so the players are very experienced,” Gonçalves added.
“Tonight, we played with the host team, the right atmosphere, so our performance in both matches deserved more, but we are brave and are looking forward to the next match.”