Benni McCarthy: How José Mourinho’s Playbook Helped Tame Morocco, Angola at CHAN 2024

Harambee Stars secured a 1-0 victory over two-time champions Morocco in their third Group A match of the African Nations Championship (CHAN) 2024, a result that put them within touching distance of a historic quarter-final berth on their tournament debut.

The win, sealed by Ryan Ogam's 42nd-minute strike, was as much a tactical victory as it was one of resilience, with head coach Benni McCarthy calling upon experience gathered while playing in his time under legendary Portuguese manager José Mourinho to guide the victory.

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The winner came on the half-time whistle when Ogam guided the winner past a deafening Moi International Sports Centre.

Minutes after, the game was flipped on its head when Chrispine Erambo was given a red card—aided by VAR in stoppage time of the first half—leaving Kenya to shore up the remaining ten men for the entire second half.

"Believe me, I'd have been happy to finish with 11 men. Unfortunately, however, it's two games on the bounce. More unluckily today — the player went to clear the ball, completely missed it, and struck the Moroccan player on the shin. It was an accident. The rules are that if the referee thinks it's an accident, the player should just get a caution. But because we were 1–0 up, they felt it was only fitting to send him off," McCarthy said.

Déjà vu for the Harambee Stars. Just three days earlier, in their 1-1 draw against Angola, midfielder Marvin Nabwire had also been left on his backside—initially shown a yellow card before VAR upgraded it to red in the 21st minute.

Both matches had McCarthy's team holding on with long stretches of numerical disadvantage, courtesy of stubborn defending and superhuman goalkeeping from Bryne Omondi.

McCarthy, a Champions League winner with Mourinho's Porto, has not forgotten the tactical steel instilled in him by his former boss.

"I played under a certain manager — José Mourinho — the master of such game management. 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," McCarthy said in post-match interview.

That experience proved useful when Kenya shut down Morocco's attacking channels and enraged their opponents with impenetrable defensive blocks.

From taking a striker off to provide solidity in midfield, to ensuring that each player was prepared to put a shift in outside of his natural position, McCarthy's tactics brought back memories of Mourinho's "win at all costs" mentality.

"It's not always neat for the fans, but you cling on to your lead at any cost. Defenders may be required to do midfielders' or strikers' work. 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!),' McCarthy jested.

Against Morocco, it did exactly that job. Omondi made a number of crucial saves to deny Morocco forwards, and the outfielders weathered constant pressure without breaking. The win after a 1–0 victory against DR Congo and the draw with Angola took Kenya to seven points from three matches.

"It’s come in handy these last two games, but I’m praying that against Zambia — no yellow cards, no red cards, please," McCarthy said with a grin, aware that while Mourinho’s lessons have been decisive, avoiding early dismissals would make life a lot easier.