Furious Benni McCarthy Hits Out at Harambee Stars After Draw with ‘So Easy’ Chad

Kenya's William Lenkupae goes down under a challenge during their friendly match with Chad. INSET: Harambee Stars coach Benni McCarthy. Photos: FKF Media

Furious Benni McCarthy Hits Out at Harambee Stars After Draw with ‘So Easy’ Chad

Joel Omotto 13:05 - 08.06.2025

Harambee Stars coach Benni McCarthy has expressed his disappointment that his players dominated against Chad but failed to win what he thinks was a very easy match.

Harambee Stars coach Benni McCarthy has turned the heat on his players following their goalless draw against Chad in a friendly match on Saturday.

Kenya failed to make use of their opportunities, especially in the first half, when they carved the Chad defence open with Boniface Muchiri creating a host of chances that were wasted mostly by William Lenkupae before their opponents made life difficult for them in the second half to force the stalemate.

Playing against a side ranked 177th in the world, McCarthy was left furious that his charges could not utilise their opportunities despite their dominant performance in Marrakech, Morocco.

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“It’s our first match together for most of these players so you could see there is still a bit, we need to understand each other better but when you dominate a match like this, then you have to be very disappointed that you did not win or did not score goals,” McCarthy told FKF Media.

Harambee Stars Coach Furious Not to Beat ‘So Easy’ Chad

Moses Shumah of Kenya shoots during a friendly match with Chad. Photo: FKF Media

“It was so easy for us to play, they [Chad] sat back very low, defended the middle of the pitch and then we are just not patient enough and the biggest disappointment is the fact that we didn’t score because we had so many opportunities.

“I don’t want to say the referee didn’t give that penalty, the game was so far beyond them, it was so easy for us to not blame the referee because we were that dominant and then you don’t take your chances, don’t score the goals you expect and don’t create enough to win by more than two three goals.”

The tactician has picked up vital lessons which he hopes to work on before his team face Chad again on Tuesday but wants to see a shift in mentality from his players besides being clinical.

“It is something for us to go back and work on. We did not lose the match but for me, the fact that you don’t win a match like this is so destroying,” added the South African coach.

What Does Benni McCarthy Want to See From His Players?

Alpha Onyango of Kenya challenges for the ball during their friendly match with Chad. Photo: FKF Media

“The biggest learning curve is to be a little bit more clinical, aggressive in front of goal and to play a little bit more with intensity because I think at times, especially when they went one player down, a lot of our players stopped, thinking that we are playing in the Kenyan league.

“This is international level so you have to maintain the intensity and pace of the game. You have to keep quick and move the ball quickly and create chances and I think we did not do that a lot and that is what cost us and we ended up drawing a game we should have won easily.”

The stalemate against Chad was the third match for McCarthy in charge of Harambee Stars after a 3-3 draw with The Gambia and 2-1 loss to Gabon in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in March.