Benni McCarthy promises Kenya will take the game to South Africa

Kenya coach and former Bafana Bafana striker Benni McCarthy says his side will adopt an attacking approach when they host South Africa in Nairobi on Tuesday.

The Harambee Stars face Bafana at Nyayo National Stadium at 6pm SA time, four days after the teams drew 2-2 at Orlando Amstel Arena.

South Africa remain top of Group D in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign. Kenya will co-host next year’s tournament with Uganda and Tanzania and have already secured their place as one of the host nations, meaning only one team will qualify from the group.

McCarthy believes the conditions in Nairobi could work in Kenya’s favour, with the visitors potentially having to adjust to the altitude and climate.

“In Kenya we are home. When you play away from home, it is always difficult; you can’t go guns blazing,” he said.

“You know you have to respect the opponent, so I think we tried to manage the game, but we also tried to win the football match, which was impossible, but we got a positive result from it, but when we go home it will be different.”

Kenya had to settle for a point in Friday’s match, but McCarthy said his team would be more positive on home soil and intended to test South Africa from the opening whistle.

“I am not sure if South Africa will be accustomed to the altitude and the climate that’s in Kenya, and our players are accustomed to it,” he said.

“So, yeah, we will be looking to take the game to them because we’ve seen today [Friday] that when we want to play, we can play.

“We are going to do that [taking the match to Bafana] from the first minute, but we will also be aware of the threat that they pose.”