McCarthy proud of Harambee Stars despite Eritrea draw, blames lack of preparation

• Harambee Stars coach Benni McCarthy has explained why Kenya underperformed against Eritrea.
• Kenya were held to a 1-1 draw in their AFCON 2027 qualifier on Saturday at Nyayo Stadium.
• Despite the draw, McCarthy remains proud of the players’ efforts, says they will be better when they face Guinea on Thursday.

Harambee Stars head coach Benni McCarthy says he is not worried about his team’s performance after they were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Eritrea in the opening match of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Group D qualifier.

Kenya came out late on Saturday at Nyayo Stadium to salvage the draw as they were close to losing to a 184th-ranked side who had taken the lead in the first half through Nahom Netabay before Ryan Ogam found the back of the net in the 86tth minute.

The equalizer ensured the cohosting nation in 2027 for this continental showpiece secured a single point but extended their 23-year wait for a first win over the Red Sea Camels.

ALSO READ: Kenya vs Eritrea player ratings: Bajaber & Omondi dazzle off the bench as Ogam rescues toothless Harambee Stars

However, despite the performance that left many criticizing the gameplay of the day, coach McCarthy was in full support of the team’s display, stating he has no criticism to point out as his boys played well, only that they lacked proper preparation ahead of the clash

“I don’t think I have a complaint that I could point a finger at and say the team lacked this or lacked that because they had desire, they had heart and they had the will. Like I said, the lack of preparation kind of showed out there today because we weren’t as clinical as we wanted to be. I think Ryan had a couple of opportunities that, in normal circumstances, he puts away,” McCarthy explained.

Kenya were underprepared ahead of this clash last week, and since they got into camp on Tuesday last week, they only managed to train together on Friday after a long week of strike, following a prolonged week of striking over unpaid allowances..

The former Manchester United forwards coach has pointed fingers at that and just remains proud of the team’s performance through the game.

“I think when you don’t train for four days and you have to go into a match like this, you’re going to have a little bit of shortcomings,” he added.

ALSO READ: AFCON 2027Q: Ogam’s late strike spares Harambee Stars embarrassment in Eritrea draw

“But I can only be proud of what I saw today from the players. It’s a special group that we have. And yeah, they shouldn’t feel hard done by because I think they gave everything today. We were by far the standout team, the better team. So I’m not too worried about that.”

On Thursday, Harambee Stars will be back in action for their second qualifier when they travel to Guinea on Thursday, October 1, to face the Syli National in Conakry.

McCarthy says the team will focus on sharpening their final-third play as they look to address the shortcomings witnessed against Eritrea.

“I think if we can just sort out the little problems that we have, two sessions would even give us a better stance because we had zero sessions… And we performed like that,” he stated.

“So if we could have two sessions, I think we would be better organised. We would limit the mistakes that we had. Our finishing and the quality in the final third will also definitely be better than what it was today.”

Kenya have already automatically secured their ticket to AFCON 2027 and are using these qualifiers as part of their preparations ahead of the tournament, which will be staged in June and July 2027 across Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.