Ogam rescues Kenya at the death

Eritrea, ranked well below Kenya in the region, went ahead and looked set to leave with a result that would have set off alarm bells inside the Harambee Stars camp and among fans already twitchy about the team's qualifying form.

Ogam had other ideas. His late intervention pulled Kenya back level and turned a losing scoreline into a 1-1 draw, the kind of goal that changes the mood in the dressing room even if it doesn't change the temperature of the criticism entirely.

A point that stings as much as it saves

There's a version of this story where Kenya cruise past a lower-ranked Eritrea side at home and nobody talks about it twice. Instead, the Harambee Stars needed a stoppage-phase rescue act just to avoid dropping all three points, and that's the uncomfortable bit fans will chew over long after Ogam's celebration fades.

A draw against a side ranked below you in an AFCON qualifier is rarely spun as good news, and Kenya's supporters know the difference between a point salvaged and a point banked. This was firmly the former.

Kenya's group picture after the draw

A defeat here would have been a far heavier blow to Kenya's tournament hopes than a draw, and Ogam's goal keeps the Harambee Stars in touching distance of the group's qualifying places heading into their next fixture.

The performance itself will get picked apart. Struggling to break down Eritrea at home, then needing a late leveller to avoid defeat, isn't the kind of afternoon that settles nerves in a qualifying campaign where Kenya can't afford many more of these.

Ogam, for his part, gave the Harambee Stars something to build on. Whether the coaching staff see this as a rescue mission to learn from or a warning sign to fix will shape how the next round of qualifiers is approached.