Interview: Benni McCarthy
Benni McCarthy’s return from injury and suspension has seen Orlando Pirates book a place in the Telkom Knockout finals.
Although he did not score in Saturday night’s semifinal win over Lamontville Golden Arrows, the former Bafana Bafana goal ace did rattle the crossbar with a first half header and has already scored three goals in the competition.
The 34-year-old spoke exclusively to Supersport.com on Sunday as Pirates headed back to Jo’burg after their 3-1 win at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.
If the referees don’t conspire against you, you will play next month in your first cup final in South African football. How does that feel?
“No, the referees can’t do nothing else to me now. The final is there and I didn’t get any yellow cards, so all is good.
This is the reason I came to Pirates. It is a team capable of a lot of things but most of all they are cup specialists and they know what it is like winning championships and getting to finals. That’s why I joined them.”
How easy is it now to switch focus to the league again on Wednesday when you are up against Ajax, where you came close to signing at the start of the season.
“Obviously it’s been a little bit tough for us because every time we seem to do well in the cup and then when we switch to the league, something is lacking. But I have also been missing a lot of the league games and that has caused a sort of gap in the team. Hopefully now that I have no yellow cards and injuries, I can bring something different.
Ajax is the biggest game I’m looking forward because it is the team where I went first and trained and the club I was expecting to join. Unfortunately due to managerial errors there and they way they did things, I did not sign for them. Instead I went to the best team in the country and they have given me a chance. So maybe I have a point to prove.”
Are you enjoying your football again?
“Yes, this team is fantastic, great bunch of guys with good spirit and competition. That’s what I need to come to training every day, to look forward to playing with a smile on my face.”
Do you anticipate a few more years still at the top level?
“At the rate I’m now going I’ve got another three or four years left in me but I don’t want to sound arrogant or tempt fate. At the moment I’m just looking forward to finishing this season and then I have another season left after that on my contract. Then if I still have what it takes to go on, then I’ll obviously look at it.”
Who would you like to play in the Telkom Knockout final – Wits or Santos?
“Normally I’d say it would be obvious for me that I would fancy to go up against a Cape Town team like Santos but after last weekend’s defeat against Wits, that would be a nice challenge.
The fact that I’ve seen a few interviews from the Wits players and they were quite cocky and arrogant. So now I want nothing more than to play Wits in the finals.