Mosimane hails Manchester United coach McCarthy after retweeting photo with Ronaldo

Former Al Ahly head coach Pitso Mosimane has expressed his delight at seeing Benni McCarthy lift South African football's image with his work at Manchester United.

Mosimane was particularly pleased with a photo of McCarthy hugging Cristiano Ronaldo following United’s 3-1 victory over Arsenal in a Premier League match at Old Trafford on Sunday.

“Ahhh! Is this not beautiful for SA football?” Mosimane gushed online, in reference to the photo.

McCarthy was among the top trending topics online on Sunday with fans crediting him for the Red Devils’ recent upturn in form, especially in attack.

The former Bafana Bafana striker was added to Erik ten Hag’s backroom staff in July to specialise in coaching attacking plays and positioning and after a tough start that saw them lose two games without scoring, United have managed seven goals in four games while conceding just two over that period.

With the likes of Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford, who scored twice on Sunday, finding their scoring boots after struggling in front of goal last season, the fans felt ‘Benni’s magic’ has finally rubbed off on the players.

McCarthy had termed it a privilege to work at United during his unveiling, saying he expected the club to quickly turn the page and start challenging for trophies on all fronts.

“It’s a privilege and if you get the smallest opportunity that you get you must grab it with both hands,” McCarthy told the club’s in-house channel.

He added: “The mentality around the club is completely different. The manager has just brought that what has been missing over the last few seasons.”

United midfielder Bruno Fernandes also recently revealed the positive influence the former Cape Town City and AmaZulu coach is having on the team.

“He was quality as a player and is quality as a manager because we do many drills from finishing, headers many stuff, that he was really doing when he was playing and it can help us score some goals,” Fernandes said during an interview with SuperSport TV last month.

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 title but he was dismissed in November 2019 after which he joined AmaZulu in December 2020 and qualified them for the Caf Champions League.