Harambee Stars, who will be making their debut in the CHAN tournament, have been drawn in Group A alongside Morocco, Angola, DR Congo, and Zambia, and will kick off their campaign against DR Congo at Kasarani Stadium on Sunday.
'The headache now lies on me'
The South African legend has admitted that he is faced with the headache of picking the starting XI for the opening fixture.
“I think we still have two more days to try and figure out the starting XI because preparations since we came back from Tanzania have been really good, we couldn’t complain about the training facilities, you know, everything is up to good standards,” McCarthy told Flashscore.
“We got the most out of what we needed, so yeah, I think come Sunday, the team will be ready, but the headache now lies on me, and other coaches on selecting our first eleven, and I would rather those kinds of headaches than nothing else. But the team is ready, fit and healthy.”
Asked how big the headache was, and whether he was under pressure heading into the opener, McCarthy responded: “My headache is as big as a watermelon, it is very big because I think everyone has worked really hard to be in the team, and I think it will be a little bit unfair that you can only pick 11 players to start the match.
“Those are FIFA rules, CAF rules, the rules of football, you have to field 11 players, so I guess you are not going to be able to make everybody happy, because so far everyone has given me total respect, and the hard work, and anything that you can ask from a player as a coach and they have all given me all that.
“And it is now up to me to select 11 players out of the whole group, it is a really tough job but I guess that is why they pay us the money they do to make those kind of decisions, and disappoint some players, that may not be fielded, you know they deserve not to be on the bench, they should start the match.
“So come Sunday, myself and the technical team will make the right decisions because this nation needs a team that can go out there and fight for it, and deliver the best football that they can and then hopefully, be superior and better than our opponents, but we will have to wait and see.”
DR Congo game 'extremely important'
On what he wants to achieve from the DR Congo fixture, McCarthy said: “I think whether it is CHAN or World Cup qualifier, or any major tournament, you have three four matches maximum, and the importance of how good you start always sets you up nicely, so yes, the first game is extremely important, but it is not the end of the world.
“Argentina for example, during the World Cup in Qatar, they lost the first match to Saudi Arabia which was very crucial, a game which they didn’t want to lose, but they ended up losing the match, and then they went on to win the World Cup, so you know it is not the end of the world if your first game is a disaster.”
He concluded: “But in our case, hopefully, I am confident the boys will be ready to give the best kind of performances that the Kenyan faithful deserve, so we will strive to make it one of the best matches of the tournament.
“Like I said, we are in the Group of Death and if we get a good result against DR Congo, who have previously won this tournament, and they know what it is all about, then it will give us belief ahead of the next matches against Morocco, Angola, and Zambia.”
