Ex-Kenya coach Zedekiah Otieno defends Benni McCarthy as mixed results spark debate

Former Kenya national team coach Zedekiah Otieno has come out strongly in defence of current Harambee Stars boss Benni McCarthy, pushing back against criticism following the team’s recent performances.

McCarthy, who took charge in March 2025, was handed the role with a long-term brief to build a competitive squad ahead of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, which Kenya will co-host alongside Uganda and Tanzania.

Since his appointment, the results have been uneven, with six wins, seven defeats and three draws from 16 matches.

Despite the scrutiny, Otieno has urged patience, describing McCarthy’s current work as part of a broader preparation phase.

“The coach has his target, which is to have a good team at the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations. So, this, for him, is like pre-season,” Otieno told Kenyan Radio 47.

“In a pre-season, every friendly match has an objective. You could want different combinations or to try new system in the game, so he is the one who knows what he is doing.”

Kenya’s latest setback—a 5-4 penalty shootout defeat to Estonia in a FIFA Series fixture in Rwanda after a 1-1 draw in regulation time—has intensified debate among supporters. Critics argue that a team ranked 113th in the world should be performing better against Estonia, who sit 129th.

Otieno, however, insisted that the focus of such matches goes beyond the final score, stressing that McCarthy’s approach is centred on experimentation and tactical evaluation.

“So, you as fans want to watch the game and comment, but the match has two things. Match observation and game analysis, and all these things, only the coach can do because it is part of our job,” he added.

“When doing game observation for those who have studied coaching, there are the five Ws (what) and when doing game analysis (why). This helps the coach to make informed decisions to come up with training sessions and have a certain game plan in a match.”

As pressure builds from fans, Otieno’s comments highlight the growing divide between short-term expectations and long-term planning in Kenya’s build-up to the 2027 continental showpiece.