Harambee Stars head coach Benni McCarthy says the upcoming FIFA Series in Kigali, Rwanda, will provide his team with an opportunity to “make people forget” the side’s record 8-0 thumping against Senegal, a result that he says was not a true reflection of the nation.
McCarthy, speaking during Stars’ first training session at Nyayo Stadium on Monday, 23 March, took his time to shed light on the Tuesday, 18 November humbling, which was Kenya’s heaviest loss in 47 years.
Senegal wipe the floor with Harambee Stars in Kenya’s heaviest defeat in 47 years“The last game, that wasn’t Kenya,” McCarthy said of the friendly whitewash, which was staged at the Mardan Stadium in Antalya, Turkey.
We were up against the AFCON champions with a squad full of new, young, experimental players that weren’t prepared to play Senegal, and then when the rules changed, it wasn’t a good reflection on the team and the players.
In the build-up to the November friendlies, Kenya had been initially slated to face Madagascar and Comoros, before there was an alteration, with Equatorial Guinea and Senegal confirmed as the preferred opponents.
England-based midfielder reveals how McCarthy convinced him to play for Harambee StarsReferring to the development, McCarthy said the decision was not in his hands, attributing it to the loss.“We didn’t have to play if we didn’t want to,” the South African coach stated.
We were supposed to play against Madagascar and Comoros, and then it changed to Equatorial Guinea and Madagascar. Then it changed again to two matches against Equatorial Guinea. A week before the tournament, we were told we had to play Senegal, so it was completely out of my hands, and the technical team. But we honoured the fixture, and yeah, we got a taste of real international football, so I think from that mistake now, you don’t want to experiment again with young new players.
Now coming up against Estonia before playing the winners of the tie between Grenada and hosts Rwanda, McCarthy said the upcoming fixtures would do much to erase the memories of Sadio Mane wreaking havoc in a first half to forget.
We are playing against Estonia; It is a nice little opportunity for us to rectify and make people forget about our last result. We are only as good as our last game, and we know how that game ended, so now we have an opportunity to rectify that and put something positive again in the minds of Kenyan fans. We built up really well, and the national team has progressed in a good way to let the last game determine where we will finish. We don’t want to be demotivated by that.
Harambee Stars, who departed for Kigali on Tuesday morning, play their first game against Estonia on Friday, 27 March at 6 PM Kenyan time.
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McCarthy explains absence of Danish-based defender despite Harambee Stars call upFinal 23-Man SquadGoalkeepers: Faruk Shikhalo, Brian Bwire, Ian OtienoDefenders: Manzur Okwaro, Abud Omar, Alphonce Omija, Mike Kibwage, Frank Odhiambo, Rooney Onyango, Daniel SakariMidfielders: Alpha Onyango, Duke Abuya, Richard Odada, Chrispine Erambo, Austine Odhiambo, Will Lenkupae, Mohammed BajaberForwards: Job Ochieng, Zech Obiero, Clarke Oduor, Ryan Ogam, Lawrence Okoth, Ben Stanley