Benni McCarthy clears the air on Pitso Mosimane relationship

Kenya national team head coach Benni McCarthy has cleared the air on his relationship with Bafana Bafana mentor Pitso Mosimane, amid suggestions of animosity between the two coaches.

This comes after the South African national team all-time top goal scorer didn't send a congratulatory message to the former Mamelodi Sundowns boss following his appointment as Hugo Broos' successor.

Notably, McCarthy was heavily linked with the Bafana post alongside a host of candidates, but the South African Football Association (SAFA) opted to rope in Mosimane for a second spell.

While many in the football fraternity have speculated that there's bad blood between the pair, the former Manchester United strikers' coach set the record straight that his relationship with the three-time CAF Champions League winner is healthy.

“Nobody congratulated me when I got the Kenyan job, so why must I make it my thing to congratulate other people when they get something? I'm very happy for people when good things in their lives happen,” McCarthy said in an interview with Dollar TV.

"The day we face each other we'll have that respect for one another, and he'll probably congratulate me for the work I'm doing with Kenya and vice versa, I'll congratulate coach Pitso on taking charge of the Bafana job.

"There's a mutual respect, he's my senior. We've been very good friends from our playing days to now as coaches. We were always on the opposite end of each other, having battles. So, we know each other very good at that.

With the two teams set to lock horns in the 2027 Africa Cup Of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers in November, McCarthy has made it clear that his loyalty lies with his employers Kenya, and not with his country of birth.

“So, that is for when we play there [in South Africa] and for me being born in South Africa, beautiful country, lot of love, and it will always have that but I'm coaching Kenya. So there's no [considering that] it's my country,” added the former AmaZulu FC coach.

"Unfortunately, my country didn't employ me, so the loyalty is not with that I was born there, the loyalty is [with] the team that believed in me.

"My loyalty is with the team that gave me the opportunity, that thought that I was the one that can help them move forward into the right direction - that's where my loyalty lies.

Kenya will automatically qualify for the continental showpiece in East Africa as co-hosts with Tanzania and Uganda, in what will be their seventh appearance in the prestigious tournament.

Hlayisani Magoro

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Football journalist from South Africa covering African football news, exclusive stories and key events while sharing insights with passionate fans of the game.

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