Afcon 2019: Kenya can use Egypt experience to build a stronger team – Ouma

Kenyan defender Eric Ouma has revealed Harambee Stars will move forward after the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) experience.

Harambee Stars, who were making their first appearance in the finals after a 15-year wait, narrowly failed to make it past the group stages in Egypt after finishing third in a pool won by Algeria, while Africa's top-ranked side, Senegal came second.

Speaking to Goal after the team landed in Kenya on Thursday morning, Ouma, who turns out for Swedish club Vasalund, insists the team did their best and can use the experience gained from Afcon for future assignments.

“It was a good experience out there playing against the best teams in Africa and we also gave our best but sometimes, we must have a winner and a loser,” Ouma told Goal.

“My only dream now is to use the experience we picked in Afcon to build a strong team that can start challenging the best in Africa. I know we can make it because we now have the support of both the Kenyan government and the local Federation."

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.

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.