Harambee Stars assistant coach Vasili Manousakis has revealed how determined Benni McCarthy is about taking Kenya to the World Cup.

Although that happening for the 2026 World Cup finals is a remote dream, Manousakis said he accepted to deputise the former Bafana Bafana star at Harambee Stars because of what he plans to achieve.

“When he [Benni McCarthy] called me about this project, it was an interesting one, because we had never spoken about national teams before.

“But I heard the passion in his voice and the belief. It reminded me of the phone call just before we joined AmaZulu. He was confident—even spoke of qualifying for the World Cup, which is a massive task.

“When he told me about the technical team he was assembling again, with Moeneeb (Josephs) and Pilela (Maposa), I thought—let’s go for it. Let’s take a different path and work together again,” Manousakis told a South African publication.

Manousakis and McCarthy’s determination to achieve greater goals with Harambee Stars has been inspired by Simba SC’s Fadlu Davids and former Wydad Casablanca coach Rhulani Mokwena.

“You look at what Rhulani and Fadlu are doing—really good things. We said, Let’s go and write our own history. It will take time, but that’s the journey.

“It’s a fantastic city, and there are great stadiums. They’re even building a new one for AFCON. The project is exciting. It’s different from club football—more focused, more intense. We’ve been watching a lot of local matches, and of course, now the U20s at AFCON. These are exciting times,” he added.