Even the opposition had words of admiration for a divine Benni McCarthy on Saturday night at Dobsonville.
Following his two goals in Orlando Pirates' 2-1 win over Moroka Swallows in the Telkom Knockout, Gordon Igesund, boss of the Birds, went up to the striker, put an arm round him in a hug and whispered in his ear: "You made the difference tonight. Well done, son."
Igesund might still have been smarting after McCarthy's well-taken double brought Swallows' unbeaten run to an abrupt end, but he was big enough to lavish praise.
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| Benni - Left |
Saturday's demolition job on Swallows was McCarthy's best match since he joined Orlando Pirates. He has now taken his Knockout tally to three goals in two matches. His first of the tournament was against Black Leopards in the last-16 round two weeks ago.
After winning a free kick from about 30m, McCarthy was so eager to drill it home that he pushed teammate Oupa Manyisa out of the way. McCarthy's powerful shot left Swallows goalkeeper Greg Etafia glued to the ground.
His second epitomised experience as he calmly picked his spot and brushed the ball home following a pass from Manyisa.
Since McCarthy's return to South Africa, he has been plagued by injuries and has played only a handful of matches for the Buccaneers. He has now scored five goals for them in all competitions.
"I used to score such goals at FC Porto and Celta Vigo," he said of Saturday night's strikes. "We needed a big performance because we have not been scoring goals. We went down 1-0 and we got a good grip because of our fighting spirit.
"We fight as a team and we win as a team because we play until the end. The guys did the same against Swallows when they equalised in injury time on Wednesday."
He said it felt good to play for 85 minutes without getting tired.
"I just need to keep myself away from injuries. Age is no longer on my side and I cannot push myself as hard as the younger players because I might aggravate the injuries. But everyone is working hard and the youngsters are pushing me because they want to play. Bongani Ndulula is working hard, and so are young Tokelo Ranti and Thulasizwe Mbuyani."
McCarthy was subjected to some rough tackling but his experience enabled him to rise above it. Once he went from dribbling to drooling in a matter of seconds after a crunching tackle from Ashraf Hendricks, a Swallows player known as "Robocop".
McCarthy became frustrated by the lack of crosses from wingers Tlou Segolela and Daine Klate and dropped deep to fetch the balls for himself.
Asked about returning to Bafana Bafana, McCarthy said that it would be an honour to help in important matches such as qualifiers, but not for friendly matches.
"You need the youngsters to build for the future. For normal matches, the time has passed for players like me, Siyabonga Nomvethe, MacBeth Sibaya and Sibusizo Zuma," he said.
Source : www.timeslive.co.za
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