Benni McCarthy Hands Gor Mahia Duo Late Call-Ups as Harambee Stars Get New Opponents

Harambee Stars coach Benni McCarthy has made three changes to his squad set for two friendly matches this month.

McCarthy has included Gor Mahia’s Bryton Onyona and Shariff Musa into his squad as well as Nairobi United left-back Kevin Otiende, the trio replacing Manzur Okwaro, Adam Wilson and Vincent Harper who have been ruled out of the fixtures.

No reason has been given yet over why the three have dropped out of the team but it is an opportunity for the new entrants to grab their chance and impress the Harambee Stars coach as he assesses a number of players with an eye on the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.

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Kenya’s fixture schedule for this month’s friendlies has also changed and they will now take on Equatorial Guinea on November 12, and not Madagascar as initially planned, while a meeting with 2021 African champions Senegal is scheduled for November 18, both matches to be played in Turkey.

It will be the first time in the senior national team for highly-rated Otiende and so is defender Onyona while winger Musa makes a return since being called up for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in September 2024, although he was an unused substitute in matches against Zimbabwe and Namibia.

“The friendly matches will provide the Stars with a vital opportunity to test their strength against high-ranking opponents, fine-tune tactical approaches and build cohesion ahead of upcoming competitive engagements,” Football Kenya Federation said through a statement on its website while confirming the team and fixture changes.

Harambee Stars are looking to bounce back from their 3-0 loss to African champions Ivory Coast in their final World Cup qualifier last month but it does not get easy against Equatorial Guinea, placed 99 on the FIFA rankings, and Senegal, the second-best ranked country in Africa and 18th in the world.