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Harambee Stars midfielder Anthony Akumu has now gone 30 straight matches without kicking a ball for his Japanese side Sagan Tosu despite shining for the national team in recent matches
Harambee Stars midfielder Anthony Akumu’s impressive display during Kenya’s 2-2 draw with Russia was still insufficient to convince Sagan Tosu coach Kenta Kawai to include him in the squad for Saturday’s league match away to Albirex Niigata.
Akumu scored the equaliser for Kenya in the contest as he cancelled out Aleksandr Sobolev’s opener for Russia before Masud Juma put Harambee Stars ahead for 2-1 before halftime. Engin Firat’s men were headed for a historic win but Ivan Oblyakov scored a late leveller for the Europeans.
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11:45 - 20.08.2023
STARS ABROAD Anthony ‘Teddy’ Akumu: It’s now 24 straight league matches without being selected by Sagan Tosu!
The Kenyan midfielder’s nightmare spell in Japan continued on Saturday as he was snubbed yet again by Sagan Tosu for their J-League loss away to Kashima Antlers
Akumu played in a three-man midfield, that also had Aalborg’s Richard Odada and Kenya Police’s Kenneth Muguna, and made rare forays forward, his high press seeing him intercept a pass before confusion in the Russia defence saw him slot home from a rebound.
However, that performance seems not to have been enough for his coach at the Japanese top-flight side as he failed to field or include him in the matchday squad for the 30th game in a row.
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21:00 - 16.10.2023
FOOTBALL Russia score late equaliser in four-goal thriller with Kenya's Harambee Stars
Kenya conceded a late goal to draw 2-2 with Russia after coming close to securing a historic win against the European nation
The match at the Denka Big Swan Stadium ended 1-1 with both sides scoring in the space of one minute on the stroke of halftime.
Koji Suzuki scored a penalty for Niigata in the fourth minute of time added on in the first half but Sagan Tosu responded one minute later through Yuji Ono.
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08:00 - 09.06.2023
STARS ABROAD: Kenya’s foreign-based players who should find other clubs
The players have been subjected to a number of difficult circumstances which make their stay at their current clubs untenable hence the need to change environment
The result leaves Sagan Tosu 12th on the 18-team standings with 36 points from 30 games, having won nine, drawn as many, while losing 12.
Sagan Tosu, who have scored 39 while conceding 40, are among teams who have let in more and even with their leaky defence, Kawai has still not found it fit to include the Kenyan defensive midfielder in the squad.
16:20 - 07.06.2023
STARS ABROAD Anthony Akumu gets first start in five months as Sagan Tosu rout Miyazaki in Emperor’s Cup
The former Gor Mahia midfielder did not last 90 minutes in what was just his fourth match for the Japanese club since joining in December 2022
Akumu has appeared three times in the J-League Cup, where he has scored one goal, and once in the Emperor’s Cup.
He has, however, not kicked a ball in all club competitions since June 7, being subbed off at half-time in his side’s 5-1 win over Tegevajaro Miyazaki in the second round of the Emperor’s Cup, meaning his last minutes at any level came in Harambee Stars’ 1-0 loss to Mauritius on June 18.
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06:00 - 18.10.2023
FOOTBALL Harambee Stars: Has Firat found his team for 2026 World Cup qualifiers?
Harambee Stars coach Engin Firat seems to have settled on a core of players whom seems to trust which points to how he plans to select his team for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers
It is still not known why the lanky midfielder has not been playing enough, although he seems to have won the confidence of Firat who looks set to hand him an extended stay in the team during the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers which begin in November.
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