Benni McCarthy has expressed his frustration at his Kenya side failing to beat 177th ranked Chad this past weekend.
Check Out: Riveiro ‘Reacts’ To First Al Ahly Defeat
On Saturday, the Capetonian tactician took charge of his third game as Harambee Stars boss. After facing stiff opposition in his first two matches at the helm — in the form of Gambia and Gabon during the FIFA World Cup qualifiers — he was now coming up against 177th FIFA-ranked Chad.
Despite facing a side ranked significantly lower than his charges, Kenya were unable to secure their first win under McCarthy’s stewardship, leaving Marrakesh with a 0-0 draw — an outcome that seemingly infuriated the ex-striker.
“It’s our first match together for most of these players so you could see there is still a bit, we need to understand each other better but when you dominate a match like this, then you have to be very disappointed that you did not win or did not score goals,” McCarthy said to FKF Media.
“It was so easy for us to play, they (Chad) sat back very low, defended the middle of the pitch and then we are just not patient enough and the biggest disappointment is the fact that we didn’t score because we had so many opportunities.
“I don’t want to say the referee didn’t give that penalty, the game was so far beyond them, it was so easy for us to not blame the referee because we were that dominant and then you don’t take your chances, don’t score the goals you expect and don’t create enough to win by more than two three goals.”
Kenya come up against Chad again later this week, and the former Manchester United assistant is hoping the team will learn from Saturday’s game.
“It is something for us to go back and work on. We did not lose the match but for me, the fact that you don’t win a match like this is so destroying,” the 47-year-old added.
“The biggest learning curve is to be a little bit more clinical, aggressive in front of goal and to play a little bit more with intensity because I think at times, especially when they went one player down, a lot of our players stopped, thinking that we are playing in the Kenyan league.
Check Out: Courts Halt Decision To Strip Ahly League Title
“This is international level so you have to maintain the intensity and pace of the game. You have to keep quick and move the ball quickly and create chances and I think we did not do that a lot and that is what cost us and we ended up drawing a game we should have won easily.”
