Harambee Stars head coach Benni McCarthy has cleared the air over the omission of defender Joseph Okumu and Collins Sichenje for his first duty as the national team head coach.
The duo, who have been key players for Stars in recent games, had been included in the provisional squad ahead of ties against the Gambia and Gabon but failed to make the final squad much to the amazement of Kenyan fans.
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Speaking ahead of the tie against Gambia, McCarthy revealed that Sichenje was injured while on club duty over the weekend with Okumu’s omission coming after a misunderstanding with his club coach.
“Sichenje (Collins) got injured while playing for his team on Sunday so he pulled out. I’m sure the player wanted to come and play for the national team. We just didn’t want to risk him flying here and back so we accepted the statement from his club and the player also reached out to our team manager.
“For Stanley (Okumu), there was just a misunderstanding between him and the club so he is not here but my concentration is on players who are here right now,” the South African said.
On his preparations for Gambia, McCarthy added,” We have to show desire and fight because that’s what Gambia will bring. We are physically strong and I like what I see. We will work on the tactical organization and work on where we feel we can hurt them.”
Stars are currently fourth in Group F of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers with their Thursday opponents Gambia occupying fifth place with three points from four matches.
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