Benni McCarthy wants to 'surprise' everyone and lead Kenya to the 2026 World Cup. The former Manchester United coach oversaw his first match since taking over on Thursday, and it was an eventful affair as the Harambee Stars came from two goals down to salvage a draw.
McCarthy has no time to waste with only five World Cup qualifiers remaining in Group F. Only the group winner out of six teams will be guaranteed to make it to the tournament, and Kenya are currently seven points behind leaders Ivory Coast. They looked destined to fall even further back when Musa Barrow and Brighton's Yankuba Minteh gave Gambia a comfortable lead on Thursday, but a flurry of late goals, including a 96th-minute William Wilson leveller for Kenya, saw the match finish 3-3.
Beforehand, McCarthy made it clear that he wants to manage Kenya at the biggest football tournament on earth. "Participating in the World Cup, it is one of the most special feelings in the world and I want to give them that," he told BBC Sport Africa.
"With the right mindset and dedication from the players, and the willingness to learn and willingness to give everything they've got for the cause, I think we can surprise a lot of people by still qualifying for the World Cup."
Kenya have only won one of their five Qualifiers so far, and having never made it to the World Cup in their history, McCarthy would have to break new ground to get there.
The former South African international certainly has the pedigree. He played under Jose Mourinho while at Porto and spent two years on the backroom staff of Ten Hag at United, which he described as an 'incredible opportunity'.
But when the chance to take an international job on his home continent came around, he couldn't resist. "I was given an incredible opportunity to go work with one of the biggest and best clubs in the world [Man Utd]," said McCarthy.
"I just felt the time was right now for me to go on and do what I love most, and that's to be the manager and to help players grow. When this opportunity came I thought, where better to give back to the continent that's given me everything?"
The second game of McCarthy's managerial tenure, and a vitally important one to keep his World Cup qualification hopes alive, is at home to Gabon on Sunday. A loss would leave Kenya at least nine points off the pace with four games remaining.