Official: Ten Hag’s former right-hand man at United appointed head coach of national team

Former Manchester United assistant coach Benni McCarthy officially been appointed the new head coach of the Kenya national football team.

McCarthy was unveiled earlier on Monday, putting pen to paper on a two-year contract, which will see him lead the nation to the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.

Kenya will host the competition alongside East African neighbours Tanzania and Uganda. McCarthy takes over from Francis Kimanzi, who served in an interim capacity since Turkish coach Engin Firat vacated the role towards the end of last year.

McCarthy’s first match will see him come up against Gambia on March 17, in a World Cup qualifier clash. Kenya will then face Gabon a week later.

Reacting to his appointment, McCarthy said, “I am honoured to take on this role and excited about the journey ahead with the Kenyan national team. I have studied the talent in this country, and I believe there is immense potential to compete at the highest level.”

“Together with my coaching team, including Vasili Manousakis, Moeneeb Josephs, and Pilela Maposa, we are committed to building a structured, disciplined, and competitive squad.”

“Our goal is to develop a strong team identity, play exciting football, and make the nation proud. I look forward to working with the players, the federation, and the passionate Kenyan fans to achieve success.”

Asked what he wants to achieve with Harambee Stars, the former United coach told Flashscore, “I want to make Kenya, the best team that East Africa has ever seen before, I strongly feel, if we can fix the national team, then Kenya will go far. For me, it is about passion in people’s faces, and that means they really love the country and so far the national team has not produced what they want.”

“The way we want to work, the way we want to achieve things, people will be surprised to see what we will achieve, and with the team I am coming along with, I don’t think anything will stop us from achieving what we want to achieve and make the fans happy.”

McCarthy joined Ten Hag’s backroom staff at Old Trafford in the summer of 2022 and helped the Red Devils win a Carabao Cup and finish in the Champions League places during his first season.

In particular, McCarthy was credited with the resurgence of Marcus Rashford, who plundered a career-high 30 goals across all competitions that term.

The former South Africa international parted ways with United last summer amidst INEOS’ reshuffle of the coaching department.

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