Benni McCarthy demands greater composure from Kenya after Eritrea draw

As co-hosts of next year’s tournament alongside Tanzania and Uganda, Kenya have already secured their place at the continental showpiece and are using the qualifiers, with South Africa and Guinea still to come, as preparation.

Following Saturday’s 1-1 draw in Nairobi, McCarthy admitted his side were inconsistent against opponents they were expected to beat. 

With the dispute over payments and players downing tools, McCarthy also pointed out that this would have obviously been a factor. 

"There was a lack of proper preparation. We didn't have one training session, so yes, when you have these kind of disputes within the camp it makes it difficult to work on certain things and fine tune our game plan. Despite all of this on the go the players still looked sharp so they deserve the credit."

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The Kenya coach did however, acknowledge that the squad still arrived on match day with the best attitude under the testing circumstances.

McCarthy is also blooding in youth during these qualifiers given that their place in the competition is already secured.