Kenya’s senior national football team coach, Benni McCarthy, says he owes his defensive tactics to Jose Mourinho. Such tricks are handy for the 2024 African Nations Championship (Chan) co-hosts.
The Harambee Stars started the tournament, exclusive to home-based players, with a 1-0 win over the Democratic Republic of the Congo. What followed was a brave one-all draw with Angola after having played with a man down for over an hour.
Over the weekend, Kenya found themselves reduced to 10 men again, but still dug deep to stun fancied Morocco 1-0 and reach the Chan quarterfinal.
Reflecting on the brave win over the Atlas Lions, McCarthy saluted his Harambee Stars for the resolute defending despite the numerical disadvantage.
Benni McCarthy is not here to please everyone.. He selected the best of the best..Not the usual Kenyan corruption, no nonsense, just football..pic.twitter.com/UxwkWD1auT
— Henry Kabogo 💧 ❄ 🇰🇪 (@Kabogo_Henry) August 10, 2025
The former Manchester United strikers’ coach said he learnt such ultra-defending from Mourinho during their time at Porto FC. McCarthy was the main target-man for the Special One, as they won the 2004 Uefa Champions League title.
“I am not sure if you remember that I played under a certain coach Jose Mourinho. He was a master of that, so as a player playing in a team playing with 10 men, was hell, but we used to manage it perfectly like it was our everyday thing,” he said.
“I have learned the trade and tricks of working with Mourinho where you adjust and who you sacrifice… Unfortunately, it is not pretty for the fans.
“Most importantly, you protect your goals and if you are in the lead, you protect them at all cost. Sometimes defenders have to play midfield jobs and sometimes strikers’ jobs. That was the art that I learned playing under Jose. We park the bus. Not the bus, we park the train,” McCarthy said.
"Tactics didn’t help the players win, it is what you promised the players that helped us win against Morocco," Coach Benni McCarthy pic.twitter.com/pxOM2ZZKDC
— K24 TV (@K24Tv) August 11, 2025
Kenya’s victory over Morocco saw the hosts record their second clean sheet in three Chan matches of two wins and one draw in group A.
The Bafana Bafana all-time leading scorer transitioned into coaching eight years ago starting with Cape Town City FC.
While the start to the Kenya job was not smooth sailing, McCarthy is gradually winning over the difficult-to-please football followers in the East African nation.