McCarthy wants no repeat of early nerves from Harambee Stars against Morocco
Reading Time: 3min | Sun. 10.08.25. | 12:37
The 47-year-old is worried a loss of mental awareness could leave them with a mountain to climb
Harambee Stars head coach Benni McCarthy wants to see his side exhibit a different mentality from the one that plagued them in their last two games, when they come up against Morocco on Sunday at the Moi International Sports Centre - Kasarani.
Previewing the 1500 EAT kickoff as a “comrades marathon and humungous test”, there is so much McCarthy wants replicated from the Angola match last Thursday, but coming late to the party is not one of them.
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In their African Nations Championship (CHAN) opener against DR Congo, the hosts had the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology to thank after the two-time champions were denied what would have been an early lead, before brilliantly seeing off a 1-0 win.
Four days later, Harambee Stars were caught napping from the gates to concede a sixth minute goal against Angola, thereafter committing a series of errors in a frantic first-half that notably saw them reduced to ten men.
McCarthy, in the aftermath of the latter match, spoke about how his players shirked under pressure, and repeated the same thing on Saturday, 9 August, worried that a repeat would this time not go unpunished.
Dissecting the situation, McCarthy said: “I think it's a mental thing, I assume, because obviously from my experience, what I went through as a player - including the way I prepared and played in big tournaments, at a big stage and against top opposition - did not really bother me that much. But modern-day football is completely different from my generation.
So I think when you have a squad that is almost 90 percent the first time they are playing in a big tournament, the occasion can get into the players, and it takes a little bit of time to adjust and get used to the environment.”
That is not to mean he is completely comfortable with the situation, especially when their next opponent is two-time champions Morocco, who are unbeaten in their last 14 CHAN matches, and have suffered just two defeats in 20 games.
“At times, especially for me as a coach, it is frustrating because you know how good your team can be but they take time to get into the rhythm,” McCarthy said.
“By then, the opposition takes full advantage of the slow start, and in our case, the last match we found ourselves a goal down, and a player down.
Hopefully against Morocco we do not allow that, because from my point of view, they are probably the strongest team in the group and in the competition. If we allow ourselves to start slow and sluggish, we will pay a hefty price.
It is one of the things I'll drill into the players. We should not give ourselves a mountain to climb.”
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Rest vs rust
Another concern for McCarthy will be the punishment his players took in their match against Angola just two nights ago, a situation that is further compounded when you put it into account that opponents Morocco last played on Sunday, 3 August and have had a full week of rest.
“Psychologically I think it can work two ways - you can have the advantage of a week to prepare and come out of the blocks firing, or it can have an effect that you have not played for seven days, so a lot of players still have to take some time to adjust," McCarthy said.
In Kenya’s case, McCarthy hopes the short turn-around of three games in the same period offers them a kick.
“That might just give the players some confidence, that boost that if we can have a fast, better start than we did psychologically it can work in your favor,” he said.
“In other instances, it can backfire, so it is something we have to be careful about, and make the right decisions to surprise our opposition.”
