Kenya head coach Benni McCarthy says he learnt from Jose Mourinho how to grind out results with 10 men.
The Harambee Stars beat Morocco 1-0 at the African Nations Championship on Sunday despite receiving a red card just before the break, moving to seven points from three games in Group A.
It was the second red card for Kenya in as many games and McCarthy revealed he learnt game management in those situation from none other than his former coach at Porto, Mourinho.
“This is the art I learned under Mourinho,” he said, as per CAF.
“It’s come in handy these last two games, but I’m praying that against Zambia — no yellow cards, no red cards, please.
“I played under a certain manager — José Mourinho — the master of such game management.
“To play with 10 players is hell, but we used to do it as if it was routine. I learned the trade from him: where to tighten, who to sacrifice.
“It’s not always neat for the fans, but you cling on to your lead at any cost. Defenders may be required to do midfielders’ or strikers’ work.
“That’s what I learned from José — when you lose a player, you send off a striker, keep one workhorse up front, and the others ‘park the bus’… or in our case, park a train and a bus in front!”
Despite picking up four points from situation with 10 men, McCarthy insisted that he would be keen to finish the next game with 11 players.
“Believe me, I’d have been happy to finish with 11 men,” he continued.
“Unfortunately, it’s two games on the bounce. Today was even more unlucky — the player went to clear the ball, completely missed it, and struck the Moroccan player on the shin. It was an accident.”
Kenya, who are co-hosting the tournament alongside Uganda and Tanzania, are only back in action on Saturday when they will face Zambia.
