AFC Leopards Boss on Why Ingwe Players Keep Missing Out on Benni McCarthy’s Harambee Stars Call-Ups

AFC Leopards chairman Boniface Ambani has reiterated that some of his players are good enough to make the national team but are missing out due to one main reason.

Leopards players have been overlooked in recent call-ups with the last time an Ingwe player received the nod from Harambee Stars coach Benni McCarthy being ahead of the 2024 African Nations Championships (CHAN 2024) when full-back Lewis Bandi made the squad for the tournament reserved for players featuring in their local leagues.

However, even then, Bandi was on his way out of the club as he signed for Gor Mahia immediately after but there were hopes that a Leopards player could make the squad for last month’s FIFA Series, particularly midfielder Tyson Otieno, who is in great form, but still missed out.

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“It is down to the coach of the national team. He knows what he wants. It is about qualities; maybe he is thinking about what he wants in the national team,” Ambani told SPM Sports.

“I cannot force him because I have personally played for the national team. Sometimes you get selected, sometimes you don’t get selected.”

However, Ambani feels Leopards players would be regular features in the national team if McCarthy was watching them more regularly.

“Usually, I don’t like to get into those politics because I have been a coach and a player in the national team so I understand everything to do with selection,” he added.

“We are just praying that maybe one of these fine days, he [McCarthy] will come and watch our matches and he will be able to make his own judgement because where I am seated, he has just watched only one [Leopards] match.

“I believe if he gets time and watches maybe two or three matches, then definitely he will have something to think about,” Ambani confidently stated.

McCarthy defended his selection criteria last month, insisting he went with the players he knows and trusts, meaning Leopards stars have a big job of convincing the South African tactician to consider them ahead of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.