Stars' skipper Michael Olunga has commended his teammates for heeding his call to make the country proud following a botched World Cup qualifiers campaign.
The skipper who took over the mantle from Victor Wanyama early this year has witnessed mixed results during his time of 'leading from the front' and the latest victory over Rwanda at the Nyayo stadium was at least a sigh of relief for Olunga and the National Team at large.
Stars have barely tasted victory this year and the only time they have had to celebrate was the away victory over Togo on June 12 and the latest 2-1 victory over Amavubi of Rwanda at the Nyayo stadium.
Harambee Stars made sure that they subdued the Rwandese and Olunga, the Al Duhail forward smashed home an Abdallah Hassan knock down to send Engin Firat's Stars ahead just after four minutes before Red Star Belgrade midfielder Richard Odada earned his first international goal via a well taken penalty after a quarter an hour of play.
Olunga has always stressed the need for strong and spirited playing unit and he at least got the reward on Monday evening.
"We managed to get the 3 points under difficult circumstances but I thank all the players for the effort they showed, they even showed character and we managed to get the win," Olunga said after the well deserved win against Rwanda."
"It's good we finished with a win and we will keep on embarking on future assignments. We will also try and work hard to improve on our weaknesses and also perfecting on our strengths."
On qualifying for the 2022 World Cup the lanky striker said: "Of Course when you go into the Qualifiers the aim is always to qualify for the World Cup. It's unfortunate we were not able to achieve that however there have been quite some positive things along the journey. The most important thing that has made me happy is that we have seen a lot of local players being given an opportunity to showcase their talents. The stage was big but I'm happy that most of them have gotten the exposure. I believe going forward they will be much more ready for the next assignment,"Olunga said.
"I believe that most of the time in these qualifiers, you have to put in more effort especially during home fixtures. I believe that going forward we need to take full advantage of our home ground. We have done our best and we can only do what is within our reach and that is play football and give Kenyans a reason to smile," added the towering striker.
Teamkenya.co.ke exclusively asked what the squad's plans were and also what he'd like to see moving to the next International fixtures set for next year and Olunga responded; "I'd like to challenge my fellow players. Let's continue working hard in our different clubs because the coach is still on the lookout, he is working hard to establish a good squad. Come next when we play friendlies, we will have a wider pool of players to select and God willing we will have a strong team."
Following the outcome, Stars wrap up the campaign in third place with six points from six matches while Rwanda must now remain content with a bottom-place finish after managing a solitary point from all their encounters.