McCarthy admits selection headache ahead of Kenya versus DR Congo CHAN opener

Kenya national team head coach Benni McCarthy has admitted being impressed with his players in camp, a situation that has given him selection headache ahead of their African Nations Championship (CHAN) opener against DR Congo on Sunday.

Having been forced to reshuffle his squad on three occasions after losing key players, the South African legend now says he has a huge task with his technical staff to select the starting XI for the Group A clash against the Leopards.

“My headache is as big as a watermelon, it is very big because I think everyone has worked really hard to be in the team, and I think it will be a little bit unfair that you can only pick 11 players to start the match,” McCarthy told Flashscore.

“Those are FIFA rules, CAF rules, the rules of football, you have to field 11 players, so I guess you are not going to be able to make everybody happy, because so far everyone has given me total respect, and the hard work, and anything that you can ask from a player as a coach and they have all given me all that.

“And it is now up to me to select 11 players out of the whole group, it is a really tough job but I guess that is why they pay us the money they do to make those kind of decisions, and disappoint some players, that may not be fielded, you know they deserve not to be on the bench, they should start the match.”

He added: “So come Sunday, myself and the technical team will make the right decisions because this nation needs a team that can go out there and fight for it, and deliver the best football that they can and then hopefully, be superior and better than our opponents, but we will have to wait and see.

“Like I said, we are in the Group of Death and if we get a good result against DR Congo, who have previously won this tournament, and they know what it is all about, then it will give us belief ahead of the next matches against Morocco, Angola, and Zambia.”

Kenya will also face Angola, Morocco, and Zambia in Group A, with the support of the home crowd expected to play a big role in their debut CHAN campaign.