‘He Can Play in Europe’ - Benni McCarthy Praises Gor Mahia Star Amid Criticism from K’Ogalo Fans

Harambee Stars coach Benni McCarthy feels the criticism directed towards goalkeeper Byrne Omondi is unfair.

Omondi, who played in Kenya’s 1-1 draw against Eritrea on Saturday, had a couple of good saves, affirming McCarthy’s faith in him.

However, he came into the match with a cloud hanging over him after he was suspended by his club Gor Mahia, who are reportedly investigating his performance and that of defender Mike Kibwage, during the club’s CAF Champions League second leg match against Pyramids, which they lost 5-1, in Cairo this month.

“Since I started as coach, he’s come in and when I look at Byrne, I see the stature of someone like Denis Onyango,” McCarthy said of how highly he rates the former KCB and Bandari goalkeeper.

“He reminds me a lot about Denis Onyango with his time at Sundowns and big stature and every single day in training and during CHAN, he was impactful.”

McCarthy says Omondi is such a good goalkeeper that should not even be playing in the Kenyan league as he should be brushing shoulders with the best on the continent and beyond.

“For the life of me, I couldn’t understand how he was still playing in the Kenyan league,” McCarthy further stated. “No disrespect to the teams in Kenya but I thought he is a goalkeeper that can play in Europe, Egypt, Morocco and in the South African league. He is that good.”

While Omondi’s performance against Pyramids is still under scrutiny from his club and Gor Mahia supporters not happy with him, McCarthy does not see why he should drop a player who has served him so well.

“We have faith, we believe in that. He gets criticised for whatever reason it is for his club but for the national team, what he does when he plays for myself and the technical team, is completely different,” added the former Cape Town City and AmaZulu FC coach.

“So because of that, we have confidence, and we put our trust in each and every player.”

McCarthy was speaking after watching his team come from behind to draw 1-1 with Eritrea at Nyayo Stadium with Ryan Ogam scoring late to save Harambee Stars from home embarrassment.

Kenya have a tough assignment up next with an away match against Guinea awaiting them on Wednesday. Guinea are wounded after losing 2-1 to South Africa in Johannesburg on Saturday.