Former Cape Town City and AmaZulu head coach Benni McCarthy Former Cape Town City and AmaZulu head coach Benni McCarthy has been linked with the Kenya national team. Photo: Phando Jikelo/Independent Newspapers
Image: Phando Jikelo/Independent Newspapers
Various reports in recent weeks have suggested that Bafana Bafana icon and former Manchester United first team coach Benni McCarthy is set to become the new boss of the Kenyan national team.
McCarthy is currently on the hunt for a new job since leaving United at the end of last season, and has been linked with a number of jobs in South Africa, the United States, and now Kenya.
Towards the back end of last year, he opened up about his desire to get back into management, and revealed he had met with a number of teams in the United States about the possibility of getting a job there before the start of the new season.
“I had three interviews in the MSL. That’s where I could be targeting to go,” McCarthy said in December.
“For now, they are towards the end of their season and they are just waiting for the play-offs to crown the champions. After that, they will decide,” said Bafana Bafana’s record goalscorer.
“But I’m looking forward to one of those positions in the MLS which I was interviewed for. I would really like to coach there and improve my career.”
In recent weeks, however, McCarthy's name has been mentioned as the Kenya national team look for a new head coach.
McCarthy's potential appointment, though, has been met with mixed views by former Harambe Stars players, with some in favour, and others opposed to the Bafana icon joining the team.
In the pro-McCarthy camp is Elijah Onsika, who was quoted by iDiskiTimes saying it was an appointment Football Kenya Federation needed to make immediately.
“He has the know-how about African football and can be the best man to replace Engin [Firat]. He is a man on demand because of what he has achieved before, from his playing career and now as a coach. It is prudent that FKF must move with speed to tie him down or else he will take another route, he may get another offer and snub Kenya.
“Recently he was with Man United, and you saw how he shaped their strikers."
However, not all former Kenya players were in favour of McCarthy.
"When you talk of Benni McCarthy, I personally think it will be a tall order for him because he doesn't even know a single player from our team," Boniface Ambani, who played for Kenya between 2006 and 2009, as quoted in the media.
IOL Sport