‘We Won’t Lose 8-0’ - Benni McCarthy on How He Plans to Slay His Beloved Bafana Bafana

Harambee Stars coach Benni McCarthy will get a chance to put his wits against his beloved South Africa and he spoke recently about how he would approach such a meeting.

Kenya were drawn in Group D of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers alongside McCarthy’s beloved Bafana Bafana, Guinea and Eritrea, with one of the three set to qualify alongside Harambee Stars, who are already assured of their place by virtue of being co-hosts.

That does not mean that they will go into the qualifiers to have fun but rather compete as it will form part of their preparations for the main tournament for which McCarthy is targeting at least the knockout rounds.

Speaking during a recent interview with South African outlet Sunday World, McCarthy explained how he would tackle South Africa were his Kenyan team drawn with Bafana Bafana and he now has a chance to put that to test.

“We will do our best – we are most definitely targeting getting out of the group stages. And if we face Bafana Bafana, it will be tough, it will be really hard because for me, my heart is with Bafana,” said McCarthy, who is South Africa’s all-time top scorer.

“But of course, as a coach, you want to do the job for the country that you work for. So yeah, I want to do well, but I know it will be almost impossible for us.”

McCarthy admits South Africa are favourites over Kenya given their quality and pedigree but he has full confidence in his team, explaining the best tactical approach to bring down Bafana Bafana.

“This is because the standard in South Africa is a much higher standard than Kenya. But like I said, sometimes it’s not about how high your standards are,” he further stated.

“It will be about the willing power and how good and organized your teams are. And I think my team is pretty organised, and they will give everything. We definitely won’t lose 8-0 like we did against Senegal,” he added, hinting at a more defensive approach with the hope of beating South Africa on counterattack.

Kenya will face off with South Africa in back-to-back matches in November, after taking on Eritrea at home and Guinea away, and it remains to be seen how McCarthy will approach both meetings against his beloved Bafana Bafana.