Former Orlando Pirates, Bafana Bafana and FC Porto striker Benni McCarthy did a whole lot more than win the Champions League.
First of all, let’s deal with the reputational things. Benni is Bafana’s all-time leading goal-scorer with 31 goals from 80 caps, and he’s the first and only South African footballer to win the UEFA Champions League. There is a certain status attached to an individual with these special accolades.
Cool Benni facts
- Benedict Saul “Benni” McCarthy was born in Cape Town and grew up in Hanover Park.
- Benni McCarthy is the first and only South African winner of the UEFA Champions League.
- On top of that, he also won domestic league titles in Portugal, the Netherlands and South Africa.
- McCarthy is Bafana Bafana’s all-time leading scorer with 31 strikes for the national team in 80 caps.
- Benni made his debut for South Africa in 1997 as a teenager under legendary manager Clive Barker.
- His playing career in Europe took him to Ajax, Celta Vigo, FC Porto, Blackburn Rovers and West Ham United.
- After he guided AmaZulu into the CAF Champions League in 2021, Benni was unofficially given the nickname Mr Benni Makathini, Zulu Warrior.
- Benni speaks four languages, namely, English, Spanish, Dutch and Portuguese.
- McCarthy scored 18 goals in the 2006-07 Premier League season for Blackburn, ending as the second-top scorer. A certain Cristiano Ronaldo struck 17 times in that campaign.
- In October 2007, Benni McCarthy finished a sequence of scoring with 10 consecutive shots on target in the Premier League.
Managerial acumen is growing; is the Orlando Pirates job an option?
Benni McCarthy started his coaching journey at Sint-Truiden, where he was the Belgian club’s assistant manager from 2015 to 2016. He then presided over 89 matches at Cape Town City as their head coach, winning the MTN9 in 2018-2019. His next head coach role was with AmaZulu, a club he guided to the Caf Champions League for the first time in their history. All of those roles preceded arguably his most glamorous position to date: first-team attacking coach at Manchester United. With the 2023-2024 FA Cup now in his cabinet, Benni’s tasted success in the dugout on two occasions and will want more of that feeling. Mr McCarthy is now the head coach of Kenya’s Harambee Stars.
Notable playing achievements include an Orlando Pirates treble
- Two-time Primeira Liga winner with Porto.
- Dutch Eredivisie champion with Ajax Amsterdam in 1998.
- Champion of South Africa with Orlando Pirates in 2011-12.
- Nedbank Cup and MTN8 winner in 2011, also with Pirates.
- Until 2023 when Lyle Foster made the switch to Burnley, Benni was the most expensive South African footballer of all time. He moved from Ajax to Celta Vigo for €6m in 1999.
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