Former Bafana Bafana marksman, Benni McCarthy, says the South African team should not expect any favours from Kenya when the two teams face off in an Africa Cup of Nations Cup qualifier in Soweto on Friday evening.
Even though McCarthy has described the match as a “David and Goliath” clash, he says they will give South Africa a good run for their money. Bafana Bafana need a win against the Harambee Stars to maintain their three-point lead in Group D.
McCarthy, who celebrated his 49th birthday on Thursday, returns to familiar surroundings with Kenya. The Bafana Bafana all-time leading goalscorer played for Orlando Pirates for three seasons between 2011 and 2013 at tonight’s venue.
The former Celta Vigo, Porto and Blackburn Rovers forward played 79 times for South Africa’s senior national football team and scored 31 goals. He was appointed Kenya national coach in March 2025 and says the result of the match against Bafana does not matter.
His mission is to build a formidable side for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations to be co-hosted by Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.
“We trying to build squad and trying to figure out who’s the best players we’ve got out there in Kenya and by the time AFCON comes that we have the right players for the tournament to help us go forward. For us it’s to go out there and to give a good account of ourselves and let Bafana sweat a little bit. Obviously, we lost against Guinea, we drew against Eritrea, it looks like a walk in the park.”
McCarthy says Bafana have made good strides in recent years after qualifying for back-to-back AFCON tournaments and also returning to the FIFA World Cup after a long absence.
“Local is lekker, you can see that the players play with freedom there’s a lot of excitement, there’s joy within the camp and they’ve got a coach now that understands them, that understands the culture, that understands what it means to be South African and it’s amazing to see. I mean only if we had it at the World Cup, I think South Africa would have done a little bit better than what they did. But not saying anything bad or criticising what the previous coach has done.”
South Africa are under pressure to win against Kenya following Guinea’s victory over Eritrea Thursday night. Bafana who have a game in hand, now have the same number of points as Guinea who beat Eritrea last night.
“It’s a little bit difficult; we are playing a team led by a personality a top guy that has done more than any other player in the country. I mean no one has done what Benni has done internationally for our country, we have to give him the respect and show him the respect that he deserves because he was a top player right, and as a coach no one has ever coached Manchester United in this country. We have to understand and give respect and make sure that we are proper and ready for the game.” says Pitso Mosimane, Bafana Bafana coach.
The match kicks off at 6pm and will televised on SABC 3.