Draw against Bafana a fair result, says Kenya coach McCarthy

"Whoever had won this game, I don't think people would have been angry or say one team was lucky," said McCarthy. Kenya coach Benni McCarthy believes his side deserved their share of the spoils after holding Bafana Bafana to a 2-2 draw at the Orlando Amstel Arena on Friday night. The Harambee Stars came back twice to deny Bafana the three points, with Ryan Ogam scoring a stoppage-time equaliser. The draw leaves South Africa top of Group D with seven points from three matches, followed by Guinea on six points. Kenya are third in position with two points, followed by Eritrea on one. McCarthy was satisfied with his team’s performance and felt the draw was a fair result. “Whoever had won this game, I don’t think people would have been angry or say one team was lucky, because I think both teams had their moments, both goalkeepers performed and kept both teams in the game,” said McCarthy. “So, I think, I’m happy for that. I’m not sure if that’s the result Bafana wanted, but at the end of the day, you know, it’s a football match. And now there’s another opportunity to come to Kenya and hopefully get something positive from it.” Benni on second half tactical changes McCarthy was also happy with his side’s second-half performance, saying they contained Bafana’s threat well. “In the second half Bafana came out, but I still thought we controlled the game and we managed most of the situations. “Obviously we made that error, we gave away the opening goal, and I’ve had to change the system, which I don’t think they realised I’ve changed the system. But we got into a bit of trouble with Modiba; the two full-backs on both sides were causing us problems,” continued McCarthy. “Ossie (Oswin Appollis) and Tshepang (Moremi) were tucking inside, and you had Iqraam and Rele who were causing us a lot of problems, and then the full-backs were having a free ride every single time, and then we changed it. “We changed into a back-three, and then the wing-backs occupied the full-backs, which I think they didn’t know what hit them, and then we started having a bit of space and more possession, and we were able to do what we did. “In the end, I think it was a deserved draw for both teams. Whoever had won this game, I don’t think people would’ve been angry or said 2-1 was lucky, because I think over the 90 minutes both teams had their moments,” concluded McCarthy. The sides will meet again in the second leg in Nairobi next Tuesday. As co-hosts, Kenya guarantee their place in the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.