Kenya U20 national team head coach Salim Babu was impressed by Tusker Youth FC’s display despite beating them 2-1 in a friendly match staged on Thursday.
The friendly was Babu’s first since being handed over the reins of the team ahead of their four-nation Cup tournament set for Malawi later this month where they are one of the invited teams together with Zambia and Zimbabwe.
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“They gave us a really good game. They are a good team, well-coached and really physically present. That is the kind of opposition we wanted because that is the exact kind of opposition we would come up against. We needed the boys to toughen up a bit and the Tusker Youth team gave us that kind of a challenge,” Babu is quoted by Tusker’s official portal.
Tusker Youth assistant coach Peter Kariuki backed Babu’s sentiments while adding: “It was such a good exposure for these young boys because they really need it. They have picked their lessons, they have also shown what we can do and we are really satisfied with what they gave today (Thursday).
“We started a bit shaky probably because of a bit of stage fright but once we got into the game, we had a good performance. We have also picked areas we need to improve on as a team and that is the essence of such friendly matches.”
The Kenya Under-20 goals were scored by AFC Leopards’ Christopher Koloti and MOFA’s Syphas Owuor.
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