Benni McCarthy Made to Wait for First Harambee Stars Win as Wasteful Kenya Fail to Breach Chad

Harambee Stars coach Benni McCarthy. (Photo Courtesy)

Benni McCarthy Made to Wait for First Harambee Stars Win as Wasteful Kenya Fail to Breach Chad

Joel Omotto 21:30 - 07.06.2025

Harambee Stars coach Benni McCarthy watched his side waste a number of opportunities to draw against Chad in their friendly match in Marrakech, Morocco on Saturday.

Harambee Stars coach Benni McCarthy will have to wait a little longer for his first win in charge of Kenya after his side wasted a number of chances to record a goalless draw against Chad on Saturday.

Kenya played Chad in an international friendly match in Marrakech, Morocco and should have won the game were it not for wasted opportunities especially from William Lenkupae.

The Australian-based forward was the biggest beneficiary of Ulinzi Stars forward Boniface Muchiri’s good work on the left wing but failed to convert any of them.

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Muchiri had Kenya’s first attempt at goal after six minutes when he got into the box but shot over the bar before Chad had a good opportunity from a header saved by Brian Bwire in the Harambee Stars goal in the 12th minute.

In the 16th minute, Muchiri brought in a delicious cross which Lenkupae headed over when well-placed in the box before Aboud Omar nearly allowed Ali Mahamat to get in the Kenyan box and cause damage.

Lenkupae Wastes Kenya’s Best Chance

On the half-hour mark, Kenya should have broken the deadlock when Muchiri made a great run on the left wing and laid it on the plate for Lenkupae.

However, with the keeper to beat, the Central Coast Mariners star somehow failed to find the target as he watched agonizingly his attempt go wide.

Both sides would go to the break still goalless and there were hopes of an improved performance in the second half.

McCarthy introduced Austin Odhiambo in a bid to add some creativity into the team but while there were some improvements, Kenya did not run rings around the Chad defence as they did in the first half.

Instead, it was Chad who almost scored when Mahamat Thiam got the better of his markers but shot wide to let McCarthy’s men off the hook in the 58th minute.

McCarthy’s attacking Changes Fail to Deliver

One minute later, Lenkupae got another good opportunity on the break, fired in low before Chad goalkeeper Mbainaissem Jourdain got a hand to it, but the ball looked like it was rolling into the net before he reacted quickly to gather.

McCarthy brought in David Sakwa and Ben Stanley in the 64th minute before taking off Muchiri for FKF Premier League top scorer Emmanuel Osoro 10 minutes later but Kenya could not find a breakthrough as Chad held on to secure a draw.

Kenya will hope to have picked some lessons to take into their next game against the very opponent in their next match on Tuesday June 10.

McCarthy has now overseen three matches, drawing two and losing one, having secured a 3-3 stalemate with The Gambia before losing 2-1 to Gabon in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in March.