Tuesday 04th March, 2025 01:00 AM|
New Harambee Stars head coach Benni McCarthy believes Kenya can nonetheless qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup that might be co-hosted by Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
The 47-year-old was formally unveiled as the brand new coach after signing a contract that can run till the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) to be co-hosted by Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.
McCarthy’s first task would be the World Cup qualifying matches in opposition to the Gambia away on March seventeenth and the house sport in opposition to Gabon on March twenty fourth.
Kenya kicked off their qualification marketing campaign with a 2-1 defeat in opposition to Gabon, recovered to beat Seychelles 5-0, drew 1-1 in opposition to Burundi, and secured a significant 0-0 draw in opposition to African champions Ivory Coast.
As it stands, Kenya is mendacity fourth in Group F with 5 factors, 5 lower than leaders Ivory Coast, whereas Gabon is second with 9 factors and Burundi third with seven factors.
Speaking on Kenya’s probabilities to qualify, the previous Bafana Bafana striker said that he had not misplaced hope, insisting that something was doable for the East African nation to qualify and charm the worldwide competitors for the primary time of their historical past.
“It is not about where the team is at the moment, there are so many games left to play, Kenya have only played four matches, they are not far behind, Ivory Coast are topping and Gabon are second, but like I said, we have two games to try change players’ mindset,” McCarthy informed Flashscore after the disclosing ceremony.
“It is possible that with the players in the team, if we win two games, we go to eleven points and we move close to the top, I have not lost hope, even though it looks like it is not possible, nothing is impossible, come at the end of the qualifiers, we could be close to topple Ivory Coast, and we are very positive to achieve that.”
Kenya will co-host the 2024 Africa Nations Championships (CHAN) alongside Uganda and Tanzania and requested his targets for the match, McCarthy, whose final stint was the assistant coach at Manchester United, stated: “We need to win each level that’s out there to us, I’m not saying it’s going to be straightforward, however with the standard of gamers we have now, we are able to obtain it.
“We have to be positive, and the players must see that; the players must see that the coaches that have been unveiled are winners; they want to win every game.”
McCarthy continued: “For the 2024 CHAN, the tournament is in Kenya and we want to showcase our skills and make a good account of ourselves, and we want to succeed, not to be failures, we want to do well, we want to reach the semi-finals and even reach the final, I know with hard work, it is very possible.”
On what he desires to realize with Harambee Stars, he stated: “I need to make Kenya one of the best workforce that East Africa has ever seen earlier than. I strongly really feel that if we are able to repair the nationwide workforce, then Kenya will go far. For me, it’s about ardour in folks’s faces, and meaning they actually love the nation, and to this point, the nationwide workforce has not produced what they need.