Nine days to go: CHAN is the start of Kenya football revolution

CAF

3 days ago

Benni McCarthy is a name that needs little introduction in African football. The South African legend, who lit up the pitch as a striker for Bafana Bafana and won the UEFA Champions League with FC Porto, has now stepped into the dugout as head coach of Kenya's Harambee Stars.
His first major test? The TotalEnergies African Nations Championship (CHAN) 2024 – a competition exclusively reserved for players active in domestic leagues.
McCarthy, who left his role at English Premier League giants Manchester United, has taken on the challenge of leading Kenya not just in a debut CHAN tournament, but also as one of the co-hosts, alongside Tanzania and Uganda. It's a baptism of fire that the charismatic coach embraces with the same passion that marked his playing days.
In this candid Q&A with CAFOnline.com, McCarthy shares his thoughts on Kenya's preparations, the hunger of his squad, managing a tough group, and how CHAN is a springboard for his long-term vision for Kenyan football – including the road to AFCON 2027.
Confident, passionate and hungry for history, McCarthy believes the stars are aligning for Harambee Stars.
Coach, how significant is it for Kenya to host this CHAN tournament alongside Tanzania and Uganda?
It is very important for East African countries to show Africa and the world that they are well structured, organized and have the capabilities to make themselves heard. This is also a great opportunity for East Africa just to show their facilities, infrastructure, organization and what they can bring to everyone else coming to watch the CHAN. When it comes to football, they have a chance to show just how far they have come and grown to become hopefully one day forces in African football.
Group A includes former champions like DR Congo and Morocco—how do you plan to navigate such a tough group?
Whoever drew these balls…. Mariga (Macdonald) killed us.. (laughs). But, honestly, it's a great challenge. When you play football and then convert to become a coach, you always have that saying that to win anything you've got to beat the best. For you to get to what you want, to be the best, the difficult teams will always be in your path and you have to beat them anyway. We have a great opportunity with two-time champions in the DRC and Morocco, Angola which is also very well respected as well as a tough nation in Zambia who have always been there in Africa football. And now, we have a Kenya who want to have a taste of the top. This is our time and the squad we have gathered is hungry and want success. How better than start this in your own backyard. We play our matches on our home ground infront of the home fans and this is a perfect opportunity to do exceptionally well and eliminate teams that could probably get to final early. This will be a massive challenge and a good test for the boys as well. We will be ready and come CHAN, I can very confidently state that we will be a team fearful of no one.
What are your expectations from the local-based players representing Kenya at CHAN 2024?
I have watched lots of them in the league and I know that we have picked quality. I have also had the chance to for a few training camps after I arrived here and I got a first-hand experience to work with some of these players and judge them by myself. I see them and what levels they are at hand what I think we can get them to be. They have a mentality, mindset, work ethic and talent to get the work done. I know their abilities and I know what they can do. Now it is just a matter of implementing it on the pitch on matchday.
How has the support from the FKF and government impacted your team's preparation?
Honestly, it has been amazing. With the limitations that are there, they try to give us everything. They are doing the best they can knowing that this is not the same ideal situation like for the coach of England or France national team who have everything at their disposal. For Africa, it is a process but we are working to get to the level where the established nations are and it is just a matter of time. We are moving in the right direction and that is helpful when you see they are trying, then as a coach you become a bit lenient with expectations but I am truly grateful to FKF and the government because they have been very supportive throughout.
In terms of tactics, how different is CHAN compared to other continental tournaments?
I think they don't differ much this is just the same continental competition with equal pressure, equal expectation. The only difference is that you are playing with local based players. But in terms of the pressure, and what you want to do and implement as a coach, it is the same.
This is the first time CHAN will be hosted across three countries. How do you plan to manage the logistical and travel challenges?
This will be a great opportunity to see Tanzania and Uganda if we manage to get to that stage of the competition. For us it is not much about a challenge because football world over is about travelling and movement across different cultures, different languages and all and this will give the players a better understanding that if you make it in football this will be part of your daily life. You have to adapt real quick. For us we are lucky that we are playing all our group stage matches at home and we will try to finish on top so that at least we also play the knockouts a home.
What role do you expect the Kenyan fans in Nairobi to play in motivating the team?
The fans have a huge role to play in every tournament especially for the home team. Throughout my career both as a coach and player I have seen what kind of difference the home crowd can make. This is the point where we want to have a full stadium every time we play because we need that 12th man push. We are not in an easy group and for such you need every little advantage you can get for yourself. The fans will play a really huge role. We saw the kind of passion Kenyan fans when we played at home against Gabon and we want to witness that same passion at Kasarani on August 3 when we play our first match against DR Congo.
Which local clubs have contributed the most players to the squad, and what does that say about domestic football?
We have tried to put in a balance from across the leagues. Of course we didn't have an ideal situation especially towards the end of the season with several venue closures because of the CHAN preparations and this limited the number of local matches we watched. But those I watched plus the number of local training camps we had already gave me a picture of who to use. I think the Kenyan league is growing and we are yet to see the best of it. There is more space for growth and improvement but I am really impressed with the quality and competition in the league.
What would you consider a successful CHAN campaign for Kenya?
When you are champions, that is success. Anything else, that's progress especially in a short space of time. We need to see how far the players have come and how well they have done. So far, they have pushed themselves to a decent standard where we expect bigger and better things. But the ultimate success, is to win CHAN.
Beyond CHAN, how do you plan to use this experience to build towards AFCON 2027?
The experience I want out of this is that you have a team so well groomed, they end up leaving international players out of the senior team because of how well they have done and how competitive the locals have become. This will only be of massive benefit to the national team, the players themselves and the country. I hope that this team becomes so formidable that it will become difficult to integrate the international players. This is the best test for them.