Harambee Stars head coach Benni McCarthy has lauded the character of the Kenyan national team following their exit from the FIFA Series semifinal in Kigali, Randa, on Friday.
Speaking to members of the press at the mixed zone after the side fell 5-4 on penalties to Estonia following a 1-1 draw at the Amahoro Stadium, the South African tactician emphasized that the performance against a European opponent of such caliber proved that Kenya is moving in the right direction ahead of major upcoming tournaments.
McCarthy highlighted the significant gap in experience between the two sides, noting that Estonia has recently tested themselves against world-class opposition.
Despite this disparity, he expressed immense pride in how the Harambee Stars composed themselves during the encounter, particularly as they grew into the game after a tentative opening period.
Benni McCarthy lauds Harambee Stars’ strong character despite penalty loss to Estonia
Reflecting on the resilience shown by his players, the coach stated.
“I think when you lose on penalties and look at the effort that the boys gave, the maturity that they showed, and the composure to compete you have to admire. Because this is a team that played against Italy.
This is a team that faced Haaland; they played against Norway. They played against really good opposition. We are only a small African country, East Africa, but we showed today that, you know, we’re making progress in the right direction. And I think that’s all that I want for my team is that we make progression. And when 2027 comes, we’ll be ready. The team will be ready for that.”
The coach further analyzed the shift in momentum that saw Kenya dominate the latter stages of the match. While acknowledging a nervous start, McCarthy pointed to the second-half resurgence as evidence of the team’s ability to assert authority on the pitch, regardless of the opponent’s pedigree.
“I learned that my team have a good character. They’ve got good personality because first half, I think we were a bit nervous but in the second half we showed Africa, you know, this is Africa, this is our soil. And as good as they were in the first half like they’ve been together for many, many more times than what we have been but in the second half my team completely dominated.
So, I’m very excited for that. But now I just need to learn to get my team to do that from the first minute, from the start of the game. Because if we can do that, then we’ll be able to cause a lot of teams problems and we’ll be able to beat a lot of teams also if we start fast and finish strongly.”
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Despite a dominant second half at the Amahoro stadium, Harambee Stars eventually lost the match 5-4 in post-match penalties as Richard Odada’s Panenka attempt flew past the crossbar.
The miss proved decisive as Estonia had scored the preceding penalty to advance to the final where they’ll face Rwanda.