NAIROBI, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- Kenya football head coach, Sebastian Migne, turned on his team's fans on Tuesday following their 1-0 win over Malawi in an international friendly in Nairobi.
Midfielder Francis Kahata netted the all-important goal in the 77th minute of a cagey encounter at a sparsely filled Moi International Sports Centre in Kasarani.
Speaking after the game, the former Congo Brazzaville head coach called on local supporters to turn up in large numbers when Kenya host Ethiopia next month in a Group F 2019 Africa Cup of Nations Cup (AFCON) qualifier at the same facility.
He further castigated his side for failing to express themselves in the game despite their second victory in succession following their stunning 1-0 victory over Ghana that revived their hopes of making the AFCON finals for the first time since 2004.
"[The] first half was boring, 1,000 excuses for that but sometimes it is difficult to land the high level. For that, we need to learn to bring the fans with us, to be there. If we have one chance to be at the AFCON, we cannot be alone only with the players, we need fans too and I hope that against Ethiopia, [we] see the stadium full of fans," the Frenchman lamented.
His outburst against the notoriously difficult to please Kenyan football fans who have endured over a decade of international disappointment comes hot on the heels of his public criticism following their win over Ghana.
Following the game where his side played the last half an hour with 10 men after Joash Onyango was sent off in the 61st minute, Migne declined to field questions from the media.
He instead launched a two and half minutes rant condemning some of the invited players, including his captain Victor Wanyama of Tottenham FC and visitors Cameroon, who en route to playing their AFCON qualifier away to the Comoros, were allowed to use Kasarani.
"I am very happy about that [the victory], but I'm not happy at all and I think I will be very brief tonight because during the week there was a lack of respect with this team. When I saw Cameroon have training on this field [Kasarani] and not us, who we were at the Kenya School of Monetary Studies, I was not happy," the head coach was quoted on local media.
He insisted that Wanyama would have reported to camp for his match fitness to be assessed by the national team staff. Wanyama has just returned to training with Spurs after recovering from a knee injury.
Football Kenya Federation president, Nick Mwendwa, attempted to diffuse the situation by claiming the preferential treatment of Cameroon was not because of the local governing body. He instead blamed Sports Kenya, the state authority that manages the country's stadiums, saying they hired out the Chinese-built facility.
