CHAN: McCarthy would have been happy to finish with 11 men against Morocco

Kenya national team head coach Benni McCarthy had admitted to being disturbed with the trend of Harambee Stars ending up with 10-men in their last two African Nations Championship (CHAN) matches adding that he hopes against Zambia they will not have a red or yellow card.

Harambee Stars endured a second straight red card in their Group A fixtures against two-time CHAN champions Morocco, after Chrispine Erambo was sent off in the 45th minute, but they went on to win the game 1-0 courtesy of Ryam Ogam’s strike in the 42nd minute.

The decisive moment came when Ogam pounced on a loose ball and drilled it past Morocco’s El Mehdi Al Harrar, but barely two minutes later, the match turned on its head, when midfielder Erambo, who initially had been booked for a challenge on Anas El Mahraoui, only for VAR to intervene and upgrade the punishment to a straight red.

“I played under a certain manager — José Mourinho — the master of such game management,” McCarthy said at the post match press conference as quoted by CAFOnline.com.

“To play with 10 players is hell, but we used to do it as if it was routine. I learned the trade from him: where to tighten, who to sacrifice. “It’s not always neat for the fans, but you cling on to your lead at any cost,” he explained.

“Defenders may be required to do midfielders’ or strikers’ work. That’s what I learned from José — when you lose a player, you send off a striker, keep one workhorse up front, and the others ‘park the bus’… or in our case, park a train and a bus in front!”

Against Angola, Kenya had also played with 10-men after midfielder Marvin Nabwire was sent off in the 21st minute, just moments after Austin Odhiambo had scored from the penalty spot to make it 1-1.

“Believe me, I’d have been happy to finish with 11 men,” added McCarthy. “Unfortunately, it’s two games on the bounce. Today was even more unlucky — the player went to clear the ball, completely missed it, and struck the Moroccan player on the shin. It was an accident.”

The win put Kenya on the verge of a historic quarter-final place in their tournament debut. Victory against Zambia in their final group game would guarantee top spot in Group A; even a draw could be enough.