Austin Odhiambo and five big winners from Kenya's COSAFA Cup escapade

The five biggest winners from Kenya's participation at the 2024 COSAFA Cup

Kenya’s Emerging Stars were sent packing from the 2024 COSAFA Cup after finishing second in Group B, winning two games and losing one, which earned them six points.

Even though they narrowly missed out on the semi-finals, they can look back on their week-long escapade with a lot of pride, and the players who got a chance to show what they can do have proven themselves enough for a more prominent role in the main side.

Here are five big winners from the tournament.

Austin Odhiambo

Without doubt the star of the show, Austin Odhiambo has certainly shown why he deserves to be trusted more at international level.

For a country known for producing workhorses, he is such a breath of fresh air. He has natural flair that you simply do not teach in academies. He has that eye for a killer pass, which allows him to break lines. He is also a goal threat and productive with providing assists.

All these skills were displayed in South Africa. He scored two goals and created loads of opportunities for his teammates. He was also excellent at combining with his teammates, and in a free roaming role, created overloads in several areas of the pitch.

He also worked hard off the ball, something he has come under criticism from before from pundits and coaches. He has shown that he deserves to be the country’s new creator-in-chief for future assignments.

Byrne Omondi

Byrne Omondi showed why he had momentarily taken over as the country’s new starting goalkeeper in 2023 before an unfortunate leg break last October allowed Patrick Matasi to reclaim his spot.

Now fully fit and match sharp after getting a run of games for club Bandari, Omondi was excellent throughout the tournament. His distribution was just on another level, as illustrated by the assist he made for Benson Omala’s winner against Zimbabwe.

He also commanded his area well, organised his defenders, was composed throughout and made crucial saves in moments that mattered.

When the 2025 AFCON qualifiers kick off this September, he will certainly be staking his claim for the number one role with the main side.

Patrick Otieno

The Posta Rangers man scored one goal, won one penalty, and was generally very good in a hybrid left wing, centre forward role. 

He stretched defences, but was also good at retaining possession and holding on to the ball, which would attract men to him and create space for fellow attackers to exploit.

Otieno has long been viewed as a player with alot of potential, and the former Kariobangi Sharks man could finally be living up to it.

Kayci Odhiambo

The AFC Leopards man only made one appearance, which was their third match in the 2-0 win over Zimbabwe, but showed a lot of maturity and tactical intelligence, perhaps given he is comfortable playing both as a centre-back and a midfielder.

Starting alongside Tusker’s Chris Erambo in a midfield double pivot, Odhiambo would drop between the centre-backs in possession to receive the ball, before spraying passes forward to aid the build-up. He would then move forward when it suited the side to create an overload.

Defensively, he was also very good, winning all his duels and setting a platform for the likes of Austin Odhiambo to do their magic.

He has now won three caps for the country this year, and will be hopeful of adding more.

Benson Omala

Benson Omala can look back at the tournament with pride. He scored one goal and assisted another one, leading the line well.

Although his touches were heavy and he did not link up play in an aesthetic manner, he stretched their defenders with his willingness to run the channels, and his relationship with Austin Odhiambo was a handful for defenders.

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