During the matchday nine contest, Kenya were forced to make an early change after goalkeeper Brian Bwire was injured while going for a high ball. McCarthy replaced him with Bryne Omondi as Harambee Stars went on to win the Group F clash 1-0.
The only goal came in the 73rd minute through substitute Ryan Ogam. Coming on after replacing midfielder Duke Abuya, Ogam received a pass from Michael Olunga, and despite being tightly marked, he dribbled past two defenders before curling in a shot into the top corner past Jonathan Nahimana.
‘Burundi wanted to break my players’ legs’
The former Manchester United assistant coach has come out to castigate the playing style deployed by the Swallows and further hit out at the conditions of the pitch for not allowing his players to play entertaining football.
“It was a very tough match, very tough, first because of the conditions, for us we are not used to playing on such a pitch, a surface like this, so from the beginning it made it really hard for us to play the way we wanted to play,” said McCarthy after the game.
“The situation made it very tough for us, because my players couldn’t play to the rhythm that I know we can play, and again in the first minutes when you lose your goalkeeper, who suffered a five inch cut above his eye, affected us.
“For me it was very dangerous, because as a striker you go for it, but if you see you are not going to win the ball, why put your foot there when you see the goalkeeper somewhere?"
He continued: “Losing the keeper became even extra tough, because my players started to play cautiously, they didn’t want to get injured, so it looks Burundi, yeah, they were very physical, they got away with a lot of things, but in normal circumstances, if we had better conditions, better surface, then we could have enjoyed better football.”
He added: “In such a situation, I tell my players also to be physical, because that was not real football, I know we want to win, they want to win, but to do a performance like they did, like wanting to break players’ legs, I didn’t come here to Burundi to receive this kind of football.”
Kenya showed character and determination
Despite the tough conditions, the South African legend praised his players for showing character and determination to return home with maximum points.
“We all know they (Burundi) are a very good team, they have good players, and I wanted them to play a fair game. I am super proud of my players for the performance that they gave in almost impossible conditions,” explained McCarthy.
“We showed character, we showed determination, we showed that we are a very good footballing nation, and we are a country, who respect our hosts because my players could have been much worse than what Burundi did, but we didn’t, we respect them, we didn’t receive any respect because for me that was not football.”
McCarthy concluded: “So justice was served because I think the victory was fantastic, very fantastic.”
Meanwhile, lead striker Olunga echoed McCarthy’s sentiments, admitting that Burundi came into the game with the mindset of playing a physical game. The Al Arabi striker, however, said Kenya prevailed because they stuck to their game and refused to fall into Burundi’s trap.
“It was a very difficult game to play especially under the conditions, the pitch, and the temperatures of course, but look, our team tried to contain Burundi as much as possible, and we knew it was going to be a very physical game, because I believe that was there tactics,” said Olunga.
“Yes physicality is allowed in football but not aggressive physicality, every challenge they played to the referee, everything, every loose ball they wanted, so it wasn’t a game to enjoy, and for us we are happy with the three points.”
Kenya will wrap up their qualifying campaign against African champions Ivory Coast on Tuesday, October 14th, at Alassane Ouattara Ebimpé Olympic Stadium.
