World Cup Qualifying: McCarthy defends defensive choice for Kenya despite Gambia mauling

Kenya national team head coach Benni McCarthy has defended his backline choices following their 3-1 FIFA World Cup qualifying defeat against Gambia in their Group F fixture at Kasarani Stadium on Friday.

In a fixture many Kenyans expected victory, Gambia stunned the hosts with three first half goals by Saidy Sinyan, who flicked in from a Yankuba Minteh delivery, before the Brighton star added the second and set up the third for Musa Barrow.

Substitute Ryan Ogam pulled a goal back for Kenya with only nine minutes left on the clock but it was not enough to deny the Scorpions historic victory in the group stages of the qualifiers.

“If I had gone with a backline of Bandi, Omija, Sylvester and Abud, we might have conceded 5 to 10 goals,” the South African tactician remarked, pointing to the quality and experience gap between his chosen starters and the unused options,” McCarthy told reporters after the game.

“This is a young team learning to play under pressure. These games are on another level. Players featuring for World Cup Qualifiers play in major leagues compared to CHAN.”

He added: “Gambia started on a high, we gave them the first goal from our very own mistake, we could have done better to stop, they scored the second again, which we could have defended well, and the third killed any hope of delivering a comeback.”

Harambee Stars defeat lifted Gambia to seven points and above Kenya, who have (six), while the top of the pool remained led by Gabon (18) ahead of Ivory Coast (16) with three matches to play.