Benni McCarthy is looking to pick up his first win when Kenya hosts Gabon in a World Cup qualifier at a sold-out Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi on Sunday afternoon.
The former Cape Town City and AmaZulu head coach began his tenure with Kenya last week with an exciting 3-3 draw away against the Gambia, grabbing a last-minute equaliser, but he will be seeking three points at home to keep their qualifying hopes alive.
With half the Group F games played, Kenya are currently fourth, seven points behind current leaders, Cote d’Ivoire.
“It is going to be very tough,” McCarthy told the media.
“Same, Gambia was exceptionally tough, but the team performed really well. Stuck to the plan. I know it wasn’t a lot of time for us to prepare, to be together, to gel and to have understanding, but I thought we did very well. Very unfortunate not to win the game, but we are happy we didn’t lose, and we can take a lot of positives from that performance. So yeah, we’re playing the team that’s (at the) top of the group.”
McCarthy is looking forward to have his team perform in front of their home supporters.
“I’m just very pleased that they’re going to be able to have the players represent them, and they’re going to have opportunity to see the team in action,” he continued.
“And hopefully we don’t disappoint. We pick up where we left off from the Gambia game, because I think we finished really strong, and it looked like we could have gone on and win the game, but it wasn’t to be.
“So hopefully we can continue with that same momentum and, yeah, we can give them just an exciting team, a team to be proud of, a team that will fight for every second of the of the 90 minutes, that will fight for them.”