Benni McCarthy has opened up on the size of the challenge awaiting his Kenya side against his home-country in AFCON qualifying, reports iDiski Times.
There’s an added edge to this qualifying campaign for Benni McCarthy. Kenya’s spot at next year’s tournament is already locked in as co-hosts, but the group itself still has to be settled, and standing in his way is the country he once represented at the highest level, now under the guidance of Pitso Mosimane.
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“It’s gonna be difficult because South Africa has always been seen as a class A category, they always in the pot with Morocco, Senegal, so they get the good draws, teams like Kenya are in the lower end, so that will be very difficult,” McCarthy said.
There’s no easier route through Guinea either. McCarthy pointed to the individual quality at their disposal as reason enough for caution.
“I think Guinea also have super power in their players like Guirassy, they have a strong team, established and participated in major tournaments more than us, they have more experience,” he added.
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None of that has dented his belief, though. A run of tests against sterner continental opposition, he says, has left this Kenya squad sharper than it once was.
“We played teams like Ivory Coast, Gabon, in Burundi where it was very hostile and we held our own, it was valuable experience that we gained, it might not have been wins, but I think from where we started to where we finished, we have grown,” he said.
Photo: Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images
