Kenyan captain Victor Wanyama admitted Kenya made mistakes during the group stages of the Africa Cup of Nations finals in Egypt but believes everybody representing Harambee Stars gave their best and will learn from the experience.
Kenya failed to make it past the group stages of the competition after managing a third-place finish in Group A topped by Algeria, with Africa's top-ranked team Senegal in second and East Africa neighbours Tanzania coming last.
“We have picked a lot of lessons as a team and it is difficult to exit now but we needed to learn first and we know in the future we can improve and make better steps,” Wanyama told Goal in an interview.
“To be honest I am proud of the players, I am proud of the staff, everyone gave their best, and you know sometimes we do make mistakes but we are all human and have to admit that but everyone involved gave out their best.
“To some in the squad, it was a learning experience, most of us it was our first time playing in the tournament and I think we gave our best. We can now dream of coming back again and doing better than we did in Egypt.”
Kenya started their Afcon campaign with a 2-0 defeat against Algeria, but they recovered to beat Tanzania 3-2, before Senegal thrashed them 3-0.
Although they had a chance to qualify as one of the best third-placed teams, Benin’s goalless draw with Cameroon saw them leapfrog Kenya on the standings.
Harambee Stars will now shift their focus to the African Nations Championship (Chan) competition where their home-based players will face Tanzania in a two-legged qualifier later in July. The first leg will be played between July 26 and July 28, with the second leg slated for August 4 in Nairobi.
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