McCarthy sees coaching change as Kenya’s opportunity against South Africa

Kenya coach Benni McCarthy believes the change in South Africa’s dugout could give his side an advantage when the teams meet in back-to-back Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in November.

Harambee Stars will face Bafana Bafana twice later this year, with the fixtures coming as McCarthy prepares Kenya for next year’s AFCON tournament, which the country will host alongside Uganda and Tanzania.

The matches will also see McCarthy come up against his home country. The former Manchester United strikers’ coach says South Africa’s players will need time to adapt to the methods of new head coach Pitso Mosimane.

McCarthy expects Kenya to try to exploit that adjustment period.

“As good as they are, we have seen them at the World Cup but whenever there’s a change of guard, it takes time for players to understand a new head coach,” Benni told Sporty TV.

“It takes time to understand his philosophy, how he plays and what he wants to achieve.

“So, maybe the [change of coach] could have come at a better [time] for us because it will take a couple of games for South Africa to play the way Pitso wants to play.”