CHAN: ‘My heart dropped’ – Kenya’s McCarthy speaks after Angola’s disallowed goal

Kenya national team head coach Benni McCarthy has admitted that his heart skipped a bit after Angola scored a goal in the stoppages which was later disallowed during their 1-1 African Nations Championship (CHAN) Group A draw at Kasarani Stadium on Thursday.

Harambee Stars showed immense grit and resilience to hold Angola, after they were forced to play with a man down for over 70 minutes following the sending off of midfielder Marvin Nabwire in the 21st minute.

But Austin Odhiambo’s coolly-taken penalty ensured McCarthy’s side remained unbeaten in the tournament and top of the group with four points after two games. Angola, who had lost their opener to Morocco, started brightly and took the lead in the 7th minute when Jó Paciência slotted home a low shot after a well-worked move involving Beni Jetour.

However, Angola thought they had snatched victory in stoppage time when substitute Kaporal scored from a rebound, but the goal was ruled out by VAR for offside in a dramatic end to the game.

“My heart dropped,” McCarthy told reporters after the game. “I was sad for the players when Angola countered that move involving Ben Stanley and scored.”I felt defeated, went to sit down because I didn’t know what my message would be to the players and when VAR intervened I got back the same energy.

“Today we experienced the 12th man. At times when we felt that our game wasn’t going according to plan, the fans kept pushing the players. The players can’t be more than proud of being Kenyan because to have all these fans is absolutely incredible.”

On what Kenya needs to improve on ahead of remaining Group A matches, McCarthy said: “This team can play, we just have to focus now on how to avoid mistakes early on. We saw in the first match, we could have easily gone down in the first ten minutes. We need to improve our concentration in the first few minutes.”

He concluded: “We now have to minimise mistakes because that’s what is costing us. I know it’s a big stage and some of the players are nervous but that’s what we have to work on going forward.”

The draw saw Kenya go top of Group A with four points from two matches, ahead of Morocco and DR Congo who both have three. Angola’s draw leaves them with one point and needing a win in their final game against DR Congo to have any hopes of progressing.