McCarthy 'excited' for CHAN on home soil

by Staff Reporter

Thursday Jun 12, 2025. 13:00

Kenya head coach Benni McCarthy is cautiously optimistic about their 2024 Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) prospects after registering the first win of his reign against Chad on Tuesday.

McCarthy took over the reins of the national team in March for their upcoming 2026 World Cup qualifiers and began his tenure with a 3-3 draw against Gambia before tasting defeat for the first time in a 2-1 loss to Gabon.

The South African then oversaw a 0-0 draw with Les Sao in the first of two friendlies between the two nations in Morocco on June 7 and guided the Harambee Stars to a 2-1 victory four days later.

McCarthy saw plenty of positives from the performance of his players in the second match at the Marrakech Stadium and believes they are ready for CHAN which the East Africans will be co-costing alongside neighbours Tanzania and Uganda in August.

“For the boys that are going to play in CHAN, I hope this experience has shown them the level I expect and the level we can reach when we play our best football,” McCarthy said.

“So there’s a lot of positive things we can look forward to with CHAN coming up and I’m excited. With the time we’ll have to prepare, I believe this team will be ready to go and hopefully we can bless the country with more victories.”

McCarthy’s side were drawn in Group A alongside Morocco, Angola, DR Congo and Zambia, and will be determined to make an impact in their first-ever appearance at the tournament.