Benni McCarthy Makes Honest Admission After Defeat in Ivory Coast as He Reveals Harambee Stars’ Next Plan

Harambee Stars coach Benni McCarthy has admitted his team was outfoxed by a quality side in their 3-0 defeat to Ivory Coast in their final World Cup qualifier on Tuesday.

Kenya were handed harsh footballing lessons by their hosts in Abidjan with Manchester United winger Amad Diallo and ex-Arsenal forward Nicolas Pepe running rings around them as the Ivorians secured the big win.

McCarthy’s men hardly had a foothold into the game and were lacking in all areas against a star-studded Ivory Coast team that should have won by a bigger margin had they taken most of their chances.

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The Harambee Stars boss accepts that there was little his team would have done when playing such a top-quality team.

“The objective was to go out there and try and complicate for Ivory Coast national team because we are a professional team, we do not want to come here to lose the match but you have to give credit where it is due,” McCarthy said after the match.

“You look at the quality that Ivory Coast have, all internationals playing for top European clubs and Kenya, we are a young team [still] building for learning, so we wanted to play with everything we can and pride.

“But unfortunately, when you play against such experience and quality against a team like Ivory Coast, it is always going to be difficult no matter how tactically you try to set out the game. They just have too many individual quality players that can change a match,” said the Harambee Stars boss.

McCarthy was gracious in defeat as he singled out the qualities of Diallo and Pepe but promised to ensure his team are stronger and challenging the top sides in a couple of years.

“Amad Diallo is one of those players, Nicolas Pepe, so it was always going to be almost impossible for us to stop a very good Ivory Coast team but it was a fantastic learning experience but in two years’ time, we will be ready and at a better level to be able to compete with teams like Ivory Coast,” he said.

McCarthy and his men will regroup and embark on a strategy aimed at an impressive performance at the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.