The Harambee Stars landed back in Kenya under a cloud of silence — their head coach, Benni McCarthy, notably absent from the flight home after a wrenching international window in Turkey. What promised to be a useful run of friendlies instead became a weekend to forget: a 1-0 loss to Equatorial Guinea followed by an 8-0 rout by Senegal that will echo for months.
Collapse in Ankara: from fragile to catastrophic
The defeat to Senegal was catastrophic by any measure. Kenya staggered out of the blocks and found themselves 4-0 down inside 17 minutes, then went into the break trailing 6-0.
Two more second-half goals completed one of the darkest results in the nation’s history, a result that exposed tactical confusion, fitness shortfalls and a striking inability to stem a tide of pressure.
Questions without answers
With McCarthy nowhere to be seen on the team’s return, the silence around the coaching staff raised as many questions as the scoreline. Players arrived home shell-shocked and supporters demanded clarity: who will answer for selection decisions, defensive collapses and the catastrophic morale damage? The absence of a public explanation only deepens the uncertainty.
Bigger stakes, urgent fixes
This is more than a single bad week. Kenya is co-host of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, and blows like this burn precious momentum and patience.
The federation, coaching team and senior players now face a short window to restore confidence, rework tactics and offer a credible plan before competitive fixtures return.
The fans expect accountability; and fast.
