NAIROBI, Kenya, March 23, 2026 – Harambee Stars head coach Benni McCarthy has revealed he was not involved in the arrangement of last November’s international friendly against Senegal.
McCarthy says he was just as surprised to be informed of the match at the last minute, noting that it completely out of his control.
“We didn’t have to play if we didn’t want it to because we were supposed to play against Madagascar and Comoros and then it changed again to Equatorial Guinea and Madagascar. Then it changed again to Equatorial Guinea, two matches, and then a week before the tournament starts, you are told you are to play Senegal so then it was completely out of my hands,” the South African said.
Kenya suffered an embarrassing 8-0 thrashing by the Teranga Lions in the one-sided match in Antalya during which McCarthy fielded a largely inexperienced side.
It came four days after a 1-0 loss to Equatorial Guinea at the same venue.
The gaffer says he named the squad with their initial opponents (Madagascar and Comoros) in mind.
The South African says his plans were thrown off course by the last-minute change in the fixtures.
“We were up against the AFCON champions and when you have a squad full of new players experimental players that we weren’t prepared to play Senegal and then when the rules change, then all of a sudden you have to play them, it wasn’t a good reflection on the team,” McCarthy said.
McCarthy says the double loss was a sobering lesson on the need to be conservative with his call-ups and not be radical in his experiments.
“We got a taste of of real international football. I think from that mistake you now don’t want to experiment again with with young new players. What we’re trying to do now is both for the Afcon (2027) so we want to get the strongest possible players that we have out there…Kenyan heritage players that play in strong leagues ,” he said.
Once bitten, twice shy; the former Manchester United forwards coach has named a more tried-and-tested squad ahead of this Friday’s Fifa Global Series encounter against Estonia in Rwanda.
The match, McCarthy says, offers an opportunity to make amends and mend their relationship with the fans, which was tattered by that horror show against Senegal.
“We’re playing against Estonia and then if you win you play the winners of Rwanda and Grenada so it’s a nice little opportunity for us to rectify and and make people forget about the last result. We’ve got an opportunity to to rectify that and and and put something positive in the minds of the Kenyans,” the gaffer said.
He further said his eyes are roving all over the world, including Kenya, to find players who can bring something special to the national set-up.
Friday’s duel is the first between Estonia and Kenya; winner of the encounter will face that of the match between Rwanda and Grenada on March 30.
