{"id":251220,"date":"2025-03-18T05:05:30","date_gmt":"2025-03-18T05:05:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/ke\/2025\/03\/18\/harambee-stars-ready-for-gambia-test-as-mccarthy-names-23-man-squad\/"},"modified":"2025-03-18T05:05:30","modified_gmt":"2025-03-18T05:05:30","slug":"harambee-stars-ready-for-gambia-test-as-mccarthy-names-23-man-squad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/ke\/2025\/03\/18\/harambee-stars-ready-for-gambia-test-as-mccarthy-names-23-man-squad\/","title":{"rendered":"Harambee Stars Ready for Gambia Test as McCarthy Names 23-Man Squad"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p data-start=\"92\" data-end=\"227\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-330211\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/harambee.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"528\"  \/>Harambee Stars head coach Benni McCarthy has announced his 23-man squad for the crucial 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Gambia.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"229\" data-end=\"468\">The match is set for\u00a0Thursday, March 20, 2025, at the\u00a0Alassane Ouattara Ebimpe Olympic Stadium in Ivory Coast. Gambia will play at a neutral venue since FIFA and CAF have yet to approve their home ground for high-profile matches.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"470\" data-end=\"707\">Having officially taken charge on\u00a0March 12, McCarthy has quickly assessed the squad and expressed confidence in the players\u2019 abilities, particularly highlighting the potential of younger stars to step up on the international stage.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"709\" data-end=\"952\">Speaking about his\u00a0first training session, McCarthy described it as a crucial opportunity to build rapport and familiarize himself with the players\u2019 strengths. He admitted they were initially nervous but praised their strong performance.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"954\" data-end=\"1062\"><em>\u201cIt was nice for me to get to know them better and for them to understand my coaching style,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0he said.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1064\" data-end=\"1157\">Despite missing some key players, McCarthy remains determined to field a competitive squad.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1159\" data-end=\"1352\"><em>\u201cWe understand the significance of this match,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0he emphasized.\u00a0\u201c<em>We\u2019ll make it difficult for our opponents. What matters is that we have a hardworking group that\u2019s focused on winning.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<h3 data-start=\"1354\" data-end=\"1394\">Harambee Stars Traveling Squad<\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"1396\" data-end=\"1454\">Goalkeepers:\u00a0Ian Otieno, Brian Bwire, Faruk Shikhalo<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1456\" data-end=\"1574\">Defenders:\u00a0Jonestone Omurwa, Brian Mandela, Daniel Anyembe, Amos Nondi, Erick Ouma, Manzur Okwaro, Ronny Onyango<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1576\" data-end=\"1717\">Midfielders:\u00a0Anthony Akumu, Richard Odada, Ismael Gonzalez, Timothy Ouma, Eric Johana, Duke Abuya, Mohammed Bajaber, Ben Stanley Omondi<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1719\" data-end=\"1800\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">Forwards:\u00a0Masud Juma, Jonah Ayunga, Elvis Rupia, John Avire, Michael Olunga<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Harambee Stars head coach Benni McCarthy has announced his 23-man squad for the crucial 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Gambia. The match is set for\u00a0Thursday, March 20, 2025, at the\u00a0Alassane Ouattara Ebimpe Olympic Stadium in Ivory Coast. Gambia will play at a neutral venue since FIFA and CAF have yet to approve their home [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":251221,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-251220","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sport"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Harambee Stars Ready for Gambia Test as McCarthy Names 23-Man Squad - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/ke\/2025\/03\/18\/harambee-stars-ready-for-gambia-test-as-mccarthy-names-23-man-squad\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Harambee Stars Ready for Gambia Test as McCarthy Names 23-Man Squad - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Harambee Stars head coach Benni McCarthy has announced his 23-man squad for the crucial 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Gambia. 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