Photo Credit - The Harambee Stars.
Kenya national team head coach Benni McCarthy has hinted at making changes to his starting XI when they face Gabon in their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying fixture at Nyayo Stadium on Sunday.
Harambee Stars arrived home on Friday from their thrilling 3-3 draw against Gambia in a Group F matchday five fixture at Alassane Ouattara Ebimpé Olympic Stadium in Ivory Coast on Thursday.
During the fixture, the Scorpions raced into a 2-0 lead courtesy of goals from Musa Barrow and Yankuba Minteh. However, Kenya responded with Olunga reducing the deficit from the penalty spot before youngster Mohammed Bajaber scored a stunner to make it 2-2.
The game was not done yet as Barrow scored his second but third for Gambia but debutant William Wilson stunned the Scorpions, when he riffled home from inside the box with the last kick of the game for a 3-3 outcome.
“Gabon is very strong, they are number one in the group right now, ahead of Ivory Coast, so they can’t be taken lightly, we only hope that we recover quickly from the Gambia game and get ready, I will try and utilise every player in the team, I don’t want to have a tired and lethargic team because the turnaround for the next game is very short,” McCarthy told Pan-Africa Football.
“So we might have to change the team slightly, so that we have energy, and we can give the fans a good game but also, we want to go for the win against Gabon.”
On his overall assessment of the Gambia game, which was his first since taking charge of Harambee Stars, the South African legend explained: “It was very tough for us to be able to execute a game plan, we only had a one training session together as a team.
“I am immensely proud of the players because they showed spirit, they have showed a lot of unity, togetherness and a family already and we have only been together for three days prior to playing Gambia.
“I am also happy with the way we played, especially in parts of the game, because obviously we couldn’t control the game 90 minutes as we would have loved to because, we didn’t have enough time to gel, and get to know each other but the fact that we went down 2-0 down and players maybe dropping their heads down.
“Everyone was positive and we went on probably to win the match, and the players were disappointed we didn’t get the three points because that is what they deserved from what they did against such an organised and good Gambia team.”
He concluded: “I am disappointed for the boys but also happy that we can build on something from the game. I opted for a little bit of experience because when we only have one training session together, you may see something, but we went with experience so as to stabilise the team and get the organization that will keep us in the game and then when you bring in the players that we did, then you unleash them very early in the second half, and yes, it paid off.”
The draw saw Kenya stay fourth in the six team group with six points from five matches. Ivory Coast are still topping on 13 points, Gabon second on 12 points, and Burundi third on seven.
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