Bajaber would have missed CHAN group stage matches, reveals McCarthy
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Reading Time: 3min | Fri. 01.08.25. | 11:09
The 22-year-old was in a race against time to make the cut, only to exit camp a few days to the squad naming
Harambee Stars head coach Benni McCarthy has confirmed that influential forward Mohammed Bajaber was allowed to leave camp after it appeared he would miss all the team’s group stage matches at the forthcoming home African Nations Championships (CHAN) scheduled for 2-30 August.
Bajaber, 22, had been in a race against time to get fit after reporting to the national team camp with a grade 2 thigh muscle tear, and was only subjected to individual drills.
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McCarthy, in an interview last week, carried hopes that the youngster would recover in time for the 19-team tournament, terming him as “one of those players that gives everything.”
His status for the championships, however, took a big turn a few days later, after it was reported that the winger had left camp, not due to injury, but to seal a move to Tanzanian giants Simba SC, who are expected to unveil him in the coming days.
Initially responding to how big a blow Bajaber’s move was to his squad, McCarthy instead revealed that it was his technical bench that decided to leave out the playmaker from further team training.
Providing the back-story, the South African tactician said: “With his injury, we thought that probably halfway in the group stages, we would probably get to use him, but he still had a little bit of small issues, and when it is like that, you do not want to risk having one player less.”
Referring to him as “one of our better players that was definitely going to start”, McCarthy said an important decision had to be made between leaving Bajaber out, or keeping him with the hope of advancing past the group stages, when he could be thrown in.
Providing the answer, McCarthy said: “He eventually would have missed all our group stage matches, so we felt that it was a little bit unfair on everybody else, because everyone works hard, than to keep a player here that you gamble that you will reach the quarter final or semifinals and then play him.
So we made that tough decision, and then we also found out that he had an opportunity to join a giant club in Africa - Simba,” said the former Ajax forward.
It was when, as per McCarthy, the technical bench decided to let Bajaber leave camp.
“Instead of keeping the player here around us and he was not going to play a part for us in any case, we thought to let him go, and get necessary treatment and work that he needs for his new club, and then we could settle in,” he added.
Bajaber, as per close sources, left the country on Wednesday, 30 July, for Tanzania, and is scheduled to ink a new deal reported to be worth Ksh12.9m.
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