Reports that South Africa legend Benni McCarthy has joined Manchester United as the first-team strikers’ coach have been greeted with excitement and disbelief by fans online.
McCarthy, a lifelong United fan, has reportedly agreed to join Erik Ten Hag’s coaching staff to work with the club’s forwards following stints as head coach of PSL teams Cape Town City and AmaZulu.
A section of fans were left wondering how the former Ajax Amsterdam, FC Porto and Blackburn Rovers striker was going to work with Cristiano Ronaldo while others feel United’s young forwards will benefit greatly from McCarthy’s experience.
The development also left some fans in awe of Ronaldo’s longevity given the Portuguese superstar was playing with McCarthy in the Premier League 14 years ago.
Other supporters took the opportunity to relive the 2003 Champions League battle between United and Porto when McCarthy scored twice to knock the Red Devils out of the competition as Jose Mourinho’s side went on to be crowned European champions.
Some supporters feel this is a testament to the point that South Africa has top coaches.
McCarthy played in the Premier League for four years with Blackburn from 2006-2010, scoring 37 goals in 109 games before he moved to West Ham in 2009 where he managed only 14 appearances in a two-year spell after which he returned home to join Orlando Pirates.
He inspired the Pirates team that won the treble but that came after he had won his first league crown, the Dutch Eredivisie with Ajax in 1998, followed by a four-year trophy-laden spell with Porto which yielded two Primera Liga, a Champions League and Portuguese Cup.
McCarthy took his first coaching job with Cape Town City in June 2017 and won his first trophy as coach when he guided them to the MTN8 at the end of the season but he was dismissed in November 2019 after which he joined AmaZulu in December 2020.
He led AmaZulu to a record-high second-place finish in the PSL and after guiding them to the group stages of the Caf Champions League, he left the club in March 2022.
