Benni McCarthy once learned defensive tactical plans from Jose Mourinho himself.
He said he borrowed from the Portuguese tactician’s playbook in Kenya’s improbable 1-0 win over Morocco on Sunday at the African Nations Championship (CHAN).
Kenya are making their debut at the tournament as co-hosts alongside Tanzania and Uganda but their campaign so far has sent disbelief across African football. They have notched two wins and one draw in one of the tournament’s toughest draws.
The Harambee Stars played for the entire second half a man short against tournament favourites and two-time winners Morocco, a nightmare for any other team, but it was their coach’s brand of pragmatic football that saw them pull off a famous win.
“I played under a certain manager — José Mourinho — the master of such game management,” McCarthy told journalists at the post-match press conference on Sunday.
“To play with 10 players is hell, but we used to do it as if it was routine. I learned the trade from him: where to tighten, who to sacrifice.”
“That’s what I learned from José — when you lose a player, you send off a striker, keep one workhorse up front, and the others ‘park the bus’… or in our case, park a train and a bus in front!”
The 47-year-old McCarthy played for Mourinho at Porto FC and was part of the team that won the Uefa Champions League title in 2004.
He enjoys a legendary status in his home country South Africa, where he scored a record 32 goals for national team during a playing career that also included spells in the Premier League and La Liga
Kenya appointed him as head coach in March 2025 after he left Manchester United where he spent two seasons under manager Erik ten Hag, working as a coach for the strikers.
His previous managerial experience has been at South African clubs Cape Town City and AmaZulu.
McCarthy said his brand of football focuses on the bigger picture over playing style as Kenya remain unbeaten at CHAN .
Kenya is on the verge of a historic quarter-final place in the tournament. They play Zambia in their final group game where victory would guarantee top place in Group A, although a draw could be enough.
President William Ruto has been offering the national team cash bonuses for wins in the tournament. He upped the stakes on Monday, pledging to reward each player with 2.5 million shillings ($19,350) if they beat Zambia.
The players will also get a further one million shillings and a two-bedroom house if they win in the quarter-finals.
The CHAN tournament is a dress rehearsal for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), the premier national team tournament in the continent, which Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda will also co-host.
