Where is Bafana and Orlando Pirates legend Benni McCarthy now?
Benni in the 18 area.
Benni McCarthy is the greatest Bafana Bafana star ever. Where is the ex-Orlando Pirates and Porto goal machine now?
Benni takes charge of the Harambee Stars
Benni started his coaching journey at Sint-Truiden where he was the Belgian club’s assistant coach 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 biggest position to date; first-team attacking coach at Manchester United. With the 2023-2024 FA Cup now in his cabinet, Benni’s now landed the top job as the Kenya National Team head coach. They travel to Gambia in World Cup qualifying Group F for a crunch clash on 20 March at 21:00 SA time trailing leaders Ivory Coast by five points. Benni and his charges have some work to do. Meanwhile, his beloved Bafana Bafana faces Lesotho at Peter Mokaba Stadium on Friday 21 March at 18:00.
All you need to know about Benni McCarthy
- 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.
Is Benni the South African GOAT?
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