Harambee Stars coach Benni McCarthy has had to revise some of his targets for Kenya following what he has witnessed from his team since taking the job.
Harambee Stars coach Benni McCarthy made a big promise when he was unveiled in March, having expressed confidence of taking Kenya to the 2026 World Cup.
McCarthy believed Harambee Stars still stood a chance of qualifying for the tournament at the time as they were five points of top spot occupied for Ivory Coast and four adrift of second-placed Gabon but after two matches in March, they find themselves 10 and nine points respectively behind first and second places in their group.
That follows their 3-3 draw with The Gambia before a 2-1 loss to Gabon and McCarthy admits that dream will now not be achieved during his two-year reign given how far they are from their rivals with four matches remaining.
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“The World Cup will be very difficult for us in 2026 in the United States, Canada and Mexico. For us to qualify will be very difficult because the gap between first and fourth where we are, Ivory Coast is top of our group,” McCarthy said during an interview with CGTN.
“They [Ivory Coast] had a head start over us when myself and my team came in and straight away, we had two matches, drew one and lost one to the second team in our group.
Benni McCarthy Keen to Play Attractive Football
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“That set us back a little bit but we tried to give the country something to celebrate but unfortunately, losing to Gabon set us back massively.”
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With World Cup qualification impossible, the South African legend is looking forward to what he can control and one of them is to make Harambee Stars win by playing an attractive brand of football.
“A team should be the reflection of the coaches and if the coach lives by this code, it is the kind of way you are working your team. So, everybody else in our team knows that is how we are,” McCarthy further said.
“We have an elegance about us but we are also still very humble and respectful but when it comes down to winning the game, it has to be us because we just have that aggression about us that we want to win. We try to instill that into Kenyan football.”
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McCarthy’s next major assignment is the delayed 2024 African Nations Championships, which Kenya will co-host with Uganda and Tanzania in August, before he turns his focus to the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, also set to be staged by the three countries, and it is here where he will be judged.