Victor Wanyama: Tough facing our Tanzanian brothers at Afcon

Harambee Stars captain Victor Wanyama is relishing the prospect of facing Tanzania in the Africa Cup of Nations finals in June.

Kenya and Tanzania’s Taifa Stars were pooled in Group C for the 2019 finals and Wanyama, who was on target the last time the two nations met two years ago, is looking forward to go up against their East African neighbours in the continental showpiece.

The other two opponents in the group are Algeria and Senegal.

The previous time these two sides met was in a friendly match in 2016, and the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder helped Harambee Stars draw 1-1 against the Taifa Stars at Kasarani. 

“It's tough, I thought these people want East African countries to fight. I know it's a big derby, so they are our brothers, so it will be tough as well and we are looking forward to the challenge," Wanyama told BBC Sport.

“I think it's good, it's a great achievement for me to be able to lead my team into the Nations Cup this year and we just want to go there and enjoy ourselves and try and give the best performance we can give.

He also revealed that the team is yet to set targets for the June-July competition, but warned that they cannot be underestimated in Egypt.

“We don't have targets, we just have to work hard game by game and make sure we can collect points. There's no one to underestimate because when you make it to Afcon, you have to be a good team so we are in a tough group," he continued.

“Hopefully, we can try and work hard and go through." 

Kenya will be making their sixth appearance in the Afcon finals, and are aiming to break the jinx that has seen them get knocked out of the tournament in the preliminary stages on each previous occasion.