Cristiano Ronaldo and Harambee Stars is not a pairing many expected to define an uplifting football story, yet the connection has quietly shaped Kenya’s freshest surge of belief. As Benni McCarthy guides the men’s national team through CHAN 2024, the resurfacing of Ronaldo’s past impressions of the South African coach adds a layer of validation to a project already turning heads across the continent.
McCarthy’s early work with Kenya arrives with context, and with momentum. The Harambee Stars have booked a place in the CHAN 2024 quarter-finals from a so called group of death, a pool featuring Morocco, DR Congo, Angola, and Zambia, and they still have a shot at finishing as group winners. In a campaign built on discipline and clarity, the coach’s blend of elite habits and approachable man management has become a rallying point for a nation hungry for progress, with CHAN 2024 now a platform for a deeper run.
The Manchester United link that matters
Before taking the Kenya job, McCarthy worked at Manchester United under Erik ten Hag, focusing on the forwards. It was there that his influence intersected with Cristiano Ronaldo, a meeting of football cultures and standards that now echoes in Nairobi. The relationship came into focus when he began extra shooting sessions at the request of Bruno Fernandes, a small detail that reveals how trust began to take root across the United dressing room, and how McCarthy earned buy in from stars.
A previous report by Mail Sport captured the appetite for those sessions, and the level of interest from senior players who rarely do anything without purpose. It is telling that Ronaldo and a new signing at the time chose to be part of it, decisions that speak to the credibility of the coach leading the drills.
“McCarthy’s sessions have proved popular, with Christian Eriksen quick to join in. When Cristiano Ronaldo and new signing Lisandro Martinez found out, they were also quick to get involved,”
The framing matters for Kenya, because it links the standards seen at the very top of club football to the work now unfolding in the national team. When a player of Ronaldo’s stature is said to have been impressed by McCarthy’s approach, it lends weight to the methods now being applied to Kenya’s forwards and gives young players a tangible example of what elite preparation looks like. For an emerging side, that kind of endorsement can feel like wind in the sails, and it helps explain why Harambee Stars look increasingly sure of their identity.
A coach shaped by elite standards
McCarthy has been unafraid to lean on the lessons of his past, and he has done so without theatrics. Ahead of the final group game at CHAN, he invoked a Ronaldo remark that doubles as a mission statement for any team chasing consistency rather than headlines. The words fit Kenya’s tone, steady and hungry, more substance than noise.
“I don’t chase history, like Cristiano Ronaldo said, ‘You put in the work, then history chases you.'”
There is a humility embedded in that line, a reminder that legacies are not pursued, they are earned. For Kenya, this is not about flashy moments, it is about small improvements in movement, timing, and decision making, the kind of details that show up on the third matchday of a tight group. When your coach grounds preparation in a world class mindset, players absorb it, and fans feel it, which is why the rising affection for Benni McCarthy has come so naturally.
Kenya in the group of death turns belief into results
Not many gave Kenya a chance when the draw placed them alongside two two time winners in Morocco and DR Congo, plus the capable units of Angola and Zambia. The narrative has shifted, because performance has shifted, and because pressure has been managed. McCarthy’s side has already secured a quarter-final berth, which in this group qualifies as a statement about resilience and organisation, and also about self belief in tight moments.
The journey has not been linear. Appointed in early March, McCarthy did not taste a competitive win straight away, drawing with The Gambia, then falling to Gabon in World Cup qualifying. A first victory arrived against Chad in a friendly, followed by the breakthrough competitive win against DR Congo, a result that signalled traction and reinforced the value of sticking to the plan. Out of those steps came the steadier rhythm Kenya are showing now, anchored by a coach who has already handled high pressure environments.
The final group fixture against Zambia still carries consequence. Kenya can top the group with a win on Sunday, and there is an added incentive in the prospect of playing a quarter-final in Nairobi if they beat Zambia, or if Morocco and DR Congo draw in the other match. The calculation is simple, yet the emotional stakes are high, because a quarter-final at home would drape this run in a deeper shade of belief for the Nairobi crowd.
The Ronaldo and Ten Hag backdrop that frames the narrative
Any mention of Ronaldo at United brings the wider context into view. His second stint ended on a sour note after a breakdown with Erik ten Hag, culminating in an explosive interview with Piers Morgan and a contract termination just before the 2022 Club World Cup. The turbulence is part of the story, but it sits beside a more practical thread, where McCarthy later shed light on the tactical preference that shaped selection during that period under Ten Hag.
“Erik wanted pressing from the start. And I think Ronaldo, when he came to United, in his early years at Real Madrid, he was able to do what Erik expected him to do, like high press and then still have enough in the tank to get himself into positions to score,” he told Ladbrokes via MEN.
“So Ronaldo was varying his game a lot, but it wasn’t how Erik wanted to play. So he felt that it just couldn’t work. Having Cris in the starting XI wouldn’t work with the way we wanted to play, and that’s why Erik preferred Anthony Martial.”
The explanation is instructive rather than incendiary. It shows McCarthy as a coach who can translate the tension between star power and system demands into plain language, and it underscores his comfort operating inside high expectation environments. That experience is part of what he brings to Kenya now, a calm that comes from seeing how decisions are made at the top, and how roles are defined and enforced for the good of the team.
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Why McCarthy’s touch is resonating with Harambee Stars
McCarthy is among the more decorated managers to take charge of Kenya, which carries both pressure and opportunity. The blend of technical work and personal connection is a hallmark of his approach, evidenced by those optional shooting sessions that elite players willingly joined. In a national team context, that translates to sharper habits in the penalty area, more purposeful runs, and a competitive edge built on repetition, the kind that often decides tournament games for the Harambee Stars.
Players respond when the message is clear and consistent. Kenya’s stride under McCarthy has been incremental, and the timeline has rewarded patience, from early stumbles to decisive wins when it mattered. The ethos he voiced through Ronaldo’s maxim, work first, history later, is visible in how Kenya manage pressure inside matches, and in how they chase the next action rather than the final storyline. That clarity helps fans buy in, and it fortifies a squad that is learning how to carry expectation without fear.
What lies ahead for Kenya
The Zambia match will test Kenya’s ability to impose themselves at the top of the group. Topping the pool is valuable, yet even without it, a quarter-final already secured is proof of progress in a genuinely rugged section. The permutations are straightforward, beat Zambia to lock in the best possible path, or hope Morocco and DR Congo draw to bring the quarter-final to Nairobi, a scenario that would turn the occasion into a celebration of how far this team has come in a short time.
Elsewhere in the group, Angola have been eliminated after defeat to DR Congo, following a draw with Kenya and a loss to Morocco. In the wake of that exit, head coach Pedro Goncalves sent a message to McCarthy, a nod that layers respect on top of rivalry and reflects how peers are reading Kenya’s rise. In tournaments, respect can be a subtle currency, and the recognition from a direct opponent is another sign that Kenya are more than a feel good story.
Three takeaways that define the moment
- Ronaldo’s past impressions of McCarthy reinforce the coach’s credibility,
- Kenya have translated belief into tangible progress at CHAN 2024,
- the Zambia test offers a chance to elevate both seeding and momentum.
The human thread at the heart of this run
Strip away the headlines and you find a team learning to trust its work. The Kenya that drew The Gambia and fell to Gabon is the same Kenya that celebrated a competitive win over DR Congo, only now the details have sharpened and the belief has grown. This is what good coaching looks like, not magic, just an accumulation of sessions, demands, and small wins that add up to something bigger for the Harambee Stars.
There is a quiet symmetry in how Ronaldo’s respect intersects with Kenya’s rise. It is not about celebrity, it is about standards, and about how those standards travel from Manchester to Nairobi when a coach carries them with conviction. As McCarthy reminds his players to work first and let history follow, the country is watching a team that reflects that message, step by step, match by match, and maybe soon, round by round in CHAN 2024.
Whatever happens next, this story is already resonant. It tells us that credibility is earned through effort, that endorsements matter when they are rooted in substance, and that a national team can borrow from the best and build its own identity at the same time. Kenya’s quarter-final awaits, the mood is buoyant, and the link between Cristiano Ronaldo and Benni McCarthy has become a meaningful chapter in how a coach and a country found common purpose, and how the Harambee Stars turned belief into a platform for more.
