Harambee Stars head coach Benni McCarthy has said that a “misunderstanding” between Joseph Okumu and his club (Stade de Reims) led to him being dropped from the final 23-man squad set to play a pair of 2026 World Cup Qualifiers this month.Okumu, 27, was on Monday 17 March among two surprise exclusions from McCarthy’s squad, which plays its first game against Gambia on Thursday night (2200 EAT) at the Alassane Ouattara Ebimpé Olympic Stadium in Ivory Coast.The move came as a surprise to many Kenyans, as the centre-back, who had made the provisional list, was fully fit, and had featured for all 90 minutes as Stade Reims were held to a barren draw by Brest a day earlier.🇰🇪 Harambee Stars defender Joseph Okumu is among Reims trio nominated for Ligue One Player of the Week.#Pepeta pic.twitter.com/tUJi19dTdr— Pepeta (@pepeta_ke) March 18, 2025 McCarthy, addressing Okumu’s dropping, said on Wednesday: “Umh.. I don’t know. There was just a misunderstanding with the manager and Stanley [Okumu] and the club, so he is not here.”Okumu is currently on a run of eight-straight 90-minute games for his club, only checkered by a two-game suspension since his recovery and ramp-up from injury.However, the former Gent player has had his season curtailed by a recurring groin injury, which has notably kicked on after his involvement in national team games.##NAJAVA_MECA_8790145##In September, Okumu featured in two AFCON qualifying matches against Zimbabwe and Namibia, but upon his return to France, he was sidelined for four matches due to the injury.At the end of that spell, the center back was then called up by Harambee Stars for a pair of fixtures against Cameroon, where he only started once, while coming off the bench in the other in what looked like an enforced minutes-restriction decision.His latest call-up in November saw him play just 51 minutes in a game against Zimbabwe in Polokwane, and that resulted in his swift return to Reims, where he was again diagnosed with a groin injury that kept him out till January.Joseph Okumu set to miss Harambee Stars’ clash against Namibia“My concern is not with the players not here,” McCarthy said of the situation that will now see him miss a sure-fire starter. “I want to focus on being positive with the players that are here, those that did turn up and are ready to fight for the country, and ready to fight for everything.”The other significant omission from his squad this week was defender Collins Sichenje, who sustained an injury while playing for his club – FK Vojvodina – on Sunday.“Sichenje got injured while playing for his team on Sunday so they pulled him out,” McCarthy said. “That’s the risk you take. You can fly the player here and assess him yourself, but I’m pretty sure the player wants to come and play for the national team so he won’t just let his club pull him out. PREVIEW: Benni McCarthy out to kick start Harambee Stars reign with win over Gambia“We just didn’t want to fly the player all the way when he is injured, so we accepted the statement from the club and the player communicated with the team manager.”On what those key misses present to the team, the South African tactician said: “I think physically we are strong, we are good, I like what I see with the team. Just a little bit of tactical organization on how we want to play. My main focus is on the players that are here. The ones that didn’t make it there’s no trouble, we will discuss and follow up with them and their clubs after these two important games.”
