McCarthy Delighted As Kenya Thrash Lesotho In Friendly

Kenya head coach Benni McCarthy enjoyed his biggest victory since taking charge of the Harambee Stars as his side cruised to a commanding 4-0 win over Lesotho national football team in an international friendly on Sunday.

The emphatic victory in Atteridgeville served as valuable preparation for Kenya ahead of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, which begin in September. Although Kenya are one of the tournament’s co-hosts and already assured of participation, they will still take part in the qualification process.

Having been held to a 1-1 draw by Lesotho at the Lucas Moripe Stadium on Thursday, Kenya responded strongly in the return fixture.

Mohammed Bajaber opened the scoring after converting a cross from Zech Obiero, with the Lesotho defence caught out early on.

The result was a welcome response after criticism of Kenya’s performance in the first meeting, which had been arranged at short notice following the cancellation of a planned trip to Kyrgyzstan.

Bajaber doubled Kenya’s advantage six minutes after the restart, allowing McCarthy to make several substitutions, including replacing goalkeeper Brian Bwire.

Lawrence Okoth added a third goal with seven minutes remaining before grabbing his second of the match in the 87th minute, this time from a Bajaber assist.

Kenya will compete in the same qualifying group as South Africa national football team despite already securing automatic qualification as co-hosts.