Benni Blasts Officials In First Defeat As Kenya Coach
Kenya national team coach Benni McCarthy was left unimpressed by the standard of officiating in their 2-1 defeat to Gabon on Sunday, arguing that the referee served as a 12th man for the opponents to hand them the win on a silver platter.
The Harambee Stars fell to a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang double, with Michal Olunga scoring the consolation for Kenya. It was the South African mentor’s second game in the dugout since his appointment earlier this month and his first defeat in charge of the team.
Despite the loss which could have repercussions for their World Cup hopes, McCarthy says his charges stood their ground and deserved more from the match if it wasn’t for the referees favoring Gabon – events he takes serious issue with.
“Yes, they were 1-0 up, but I thought up until half time we deserved more than to be a goal down at half time. And then the second half when you come out the referee gives an incident [penalty] like that,” the 47-year-old tactician lamented on his post-match conference.
“How are you meant to defend as a player if you turn your body and the ball hits you there [on the arm], there’s nothing the player could do and then they get a soft penalty. And I asked myself, first half Michael Olunga was in a similar situation; he was ahead, and the Gabonese player smashed him.
“Against Gambia, it was the same incident, we got a penalty because our player was ahead, and the player was late to make the challenge which is a penalty and that’s the rules. He doesn’t give it, and he gives a soft penalty.”
Furthermore, the ex-Manchester United first-team strikers coach accused the Gabonese players of adopting dirty time-wasting tricks to disrupt the game’s momentum. The Bafana Bafana legend is proud of the fight his troops displayed and attributes the defeat to the officials.
“So, when you go 2-0 down it becomes really difficult because [of] their antics, they go down, they have cramps, the goalkeeper is injured the whole game but he’s still on the pitch. So, you play that tactic, you disrupt the play of the game so that we don’t get into the game,” McCarthy added.
“But like I said I’m super proud of my players, very proud for the fight, for the spirit, they showed what Kenyans are about. Even when you’re down, when things don’t go your way, you don’t give up, you keep trying and they keep pushing with some beautiful football.
“And we got the goal, and you think maybe it’s Gambia all over again, we can get the 2-2 and with the amazing crowd that we had, we can get 3-2 but unfortunately it wasn’t to be because the referee didn’t favor us today – nothing went our way.
He continued: “They had 12 players, 12 men, they were decent, but they had a lot of support from the officials because everything went against us. When it’s like that it’s difficult for a team to win or to come back or to try anything in the game when the referees are not justifying the game.”
Kenya’s hopes of securing a 2026 FIFA World Cup spot are hanging by a thread as they are in fourth place with six points amassed after six outings in Group F. They trail leaders Gabon with nine points and second-placed Ivory Coast with seven points.
