Bafana Bafana legend Benni McCarthy has had to come out hard to defend his squad selection in Kenya following criticism over some picks.
McCarthy named his provisional squad for the 2024 African Nations Championships (CHAN 2024) last week for the tournament set to be co-hosted by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania but not everyone was happy with those he selected.
Some Kenyan fans felt other players deserved to be included while the fitness of some was questioned but South Africa’s all-time top scorer has hit out at the critics who says have little understanding of the matter.
Bafana legend shrugged off criticism
“I am not here to please people. I am here to bring success to this country and the players that we have selected are the players that we have seen,” McCarthy told the media in Nairobi on Thursday.
“The players that I have had in camp and there were just unfortunate when you go to play World Cup qualifiers, international players come you cannot select everyone. So, now it is based on local camp and those are the players you have seen and you see the qualities where they can take the national team.
“So, do you risk taking someone based on a couple of good games or knowing what you are going to have when you have seen players and that is how we select them,” he added.
The former Cape Town City, AmaZulu and Manchester United coach then slammed his critics for teaching him his job when few have the ability to identify talent like he does.
Benni McCarthy stays firm with his picks
“We know everyone is not going to be happy with how the team is selected but everyone has not been where I have been so I know talent when I see one but the players we picked were by far the players I think, and technical team thinks, can take this team,” he added.
“We are not going to just participate in the CHAN, we are here to make a statement, to go as far as possible and hopefully win the tournament, and the boys that you see there are the ones I think have the capabilities of taking this team where we should be.”
McCarthy has overseen four matches with the Harambee Stars, winning one, drawing two and losing another, and will have to navigate a tough CHAN 2024 group that has Morocco, DR Congo and Zambia during the tournament in August.
