34 Facts About Benni McCarthy

Benedict Saul McCarthy was born on 12 November 1977 and is a South African football coach who is currently the manager of the Kenya national football team.

Benni McCarthy previously worked as head coach of South African Premier Division team AmaZulu, and as assistant coach at Manchester United.

Benni McCarthy was born in Cape Town and grew up in Hanover Park in the Cape Flats, an area notorious for its high unemployment rate and gang violence.

Benni McCarthy is the son of Dudley and Dora McCarthy and has two brothers and a sister.

Benni McCarthy began playing at a local side called Young Pirates, which was managed by his uncles.

Benni McCarthy then joined the youth structures of a local amateur club called Crusaders.

At Porto, Benni McCarthy played under the then newly appointed coach Jose Mourinho for an underperforming team that since winning the European Cup in 1987 had never been quite good enough to challenge for the top honours in Europe.

Benni McCarthy helped them to third place in the Primeira Liga and automatic qualification for the UEFA Cup by scoring an impressive 12 goals in 11 matches, but Porto's finances did not allow them to keep the player, despite the desire of both sides to continue.

Benni McCarthy scored two goals against Manchester United to defeat them in the second round.

On 25 July 2006, Benni McCarthy flew out to England to undergo a medical and probable contract signing to join Blackburn Rovers.

Benni McCarthy was out of action for a few weeks and found first team opportunities limited, largely because the form of new striking arrival Roque Santa Cruz.

Benni McCarthy completed a move to West Ham United for an undisclosed fee on transfer deadline day, 1 February 2010.

Benni McCarthy signed a two-and-a-half-year contract that was due to run until the summer of 2012.

Benni McCarthy made only two Premier League starts and fourteen appearances in all competitions scoring no goals.

Benni McCarthy finished his successful season with ten league goals, ending the campaign as the fourth leading goal-scorer in the Premier League, helping the club secure their second successive treble.

Benni McCarthy, who is affectionately known as "Big Brother" by the Orlando Pirates faithful, was handed a red card for dissent in the MTN 8 secondleg semi-final played on 25 August 2012 after he charged Franklin Cale after a reckless challenge on Daine Klate.

Benni McCarthy announced his retirement from professional football on 6 June 2013, aged 35.

On 13 July 2014, Benni McCarthy made a guest appearance for Scottish Lowland league club Whitehill Welfare in a pre-season friendly against a Hamilton Academical XI, scoring in the 14th minute and providing an assist for Whitehill Welfare player Kerr Dodds to score in the 20th minute.

Benni McCarthy has a connection with the club through one of the Whitehill players, John Hall.

Benni McCarthy made his full international debut for South Africa in a friendly against the Netherlands on 4 June 1997.

The 1998 FIFA World Cup in France was the first time South Africa's national football team had reached the later stages of the competition, and Benni McCarthy was one of their key players.

Benni McCarthy knew Stubbs back from their playing days when Benni McCarthy was at Blackburn Rovers and Stubbs was at Everton.

Benni McCarthy said, that he was going to help out with the U20s, and assisting with the first team.

On 8 September 2015, Benni McCarthy was appointed assistant manager to manager Chris O'Loughlin, who replaced Yannick Ferrera.

On 20 April 2016, Benni McCarthy stopped working with Sint-Truiden for personal reasons, after it was previously announced that his contract was not renewed.

On 13 June 2017, Benni McCarthy was unveiled as the new Cape Town City head coach, replacing Eric Tinkler, who moved to manage SuperSport United.

On 4 November 2019, Benni McCarthy was dismissed as head coach of Cape Town City after just two wins in 18 games.

On 14 December 2020, Benni McCarthy was unveiled as the new AmaZulu head coach, replacing Ayanda Dlamini, who stepped down from the position on 7 December 2020.

Benni McCarthy took the club to a second-place finish in the DStv Premiership, a record high for AmaZulu in the modern era of the game in South Africa.

On 30 July 2022, Benni McCarthy was appointed as a first-team coach at Manchester United.

Benni McCarthy chose not to renew his two-year contract so he could return to being a head coach.

In 1998, Benni McCarthy collaborated with South African kwaito music group TKZee in "Shibobo".

The song released in the run-up to the 1998 World Cup in France samples greatly on "The Final Countdown" by Europe and features Benni McCarthy rapping part of the lyrics.

Benni McCarthy appears in the football-themed music video for the song.