Benni McCarthy facts for kids
McCarthy warming up for West Ham United in 2010
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 12 November 1977 | |||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Cape Town, South Africa | |||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.83 m | |||||||||||||||
| Playing position | Forward | |||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||
| Young Pirates | ||||||||||||||||
| Crusaders | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† | |||||||||||||
| 1995–1997 | Seven Stars | 49 | (42) | |||||||||||||
| 1996–1997 | → Cape Town Spurs (loan) | 7 | (3) | |||||||||||||
| 1997–1999 | Ajax | 36 | (20) | |||||||||||||
| 1999–2003 | Celta Vigo | 66 | (10) | |||||||||||||
| 2003–2006 | Porto | 85 | (46) | |||||||||||||
| 2006–2010 | Blackburn Rovers | 109 | (37) | |||||||||||||
| 2010–2011 | West Ham United | 11 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2011–2013 | Orlando Pirates | 24 | (10) | |||||||||||||
| Total | 387 | (168) | ||||||||||||||
| National team | ||||||||||||||||
| – | South Africa U23 | 13 | ||||||||||||||
| 1997–2012 | South Africa | 79 | (31) | |||||||||||||
| Teams managed | ||||||||||||||||
| 2015–2016 | Sint-Truiden (assistant) | |||||||||||||||
| 2017–2019 | Cape Town City | |||||||||||||||
| 2020–2022 | AmaZulu | |||||||||||||||
| 2022–2024 | Manchester United (first team coach) | |||||||||||||||
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Honours
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Benedict Saul McCarthy (born 12 November 1977), known as Benni McCarthy, is a famous South African football coach and former player. He was recently a first-team coach at Manchester United. Before that, he was the head coach of the South African Premier Division team AmaZulu.
Benni McCarthy played as a forward. He is the South Africa national team's top goal scorer of all time, with 31 goals. He is also the only South African player to have won the UEFA Champions League. He achieved this amazing feat with Porto in the 2003–04 season.
Contents
Benni McCarthy's Early Life and Football Start
Benni McCarthy was born in Cape Town, South Africa. He grew up in an area called Hanover Park. His parents are Dudley and Dora McCarthy. He has two brothers and one sister. His older brother, Jerome McCarthy, also played professional football.
Benni started playing football at a local team called Young Pirates. His uncles managed this team. Later, he joined a youth club called Crusaders. When he was 17, he signed with a first division club, Seven Stars.
Benni McCarthy's Club Career Highlights
Playing for Seven Stars and Ajax
At 18, McCarthy played for Seven Stars. He scored 1 goal in 29 matches in his first season (1995–96). The next season, he scored 12 goals in 20 matches. This great performance led him to join Cape Town Spurs. Two years later, Seven Stars and Cape Town Spurs joined together. They formed Ajax Cape Town, which was connected to the Dutch club Ajax.
In 1997, McCarthy impressed everyone at the African Youth Championship and the FIFA World Youth Championship in Malaysia. After this, he joined Ajax in the Eredivisie (the top Dutch league). He scored nine goals and helped his team win the league in his first season. After a good 1998–99 season, he moved to the Spanish team Celta Vigo. This transfer was a big deal, costing over €6 million, making him the most expensive South African player at the time.
Time at Celta Vigo and Porto
Even though he was seen as one of Africa's best players, McCarthy didn't play regularly for Celta Vigo. After two difficult seasons, he was loaned to Porto in Portugal for the 2001–02 season. There, he started playing very well again.
At Porto, McCarthy played under a new coach, José Mourinho. The team had not been challenging for top European honors since winning the European Cup in 1987. But things were about to change.
After playing for the South African national team in the 2002 African Nations Cup, McCarthy returned to Porto. He became a key player in the team's success. He helped them finish third in the Primeira Liga by scoring 12 goals in 11 matches. This earned them a spot in the UEFA Cup. However, Porto couldn't afford to keep him at that time.
In 2002–03, McCarthy went back to Celta Vigo. He spent most of his time on the bench. Meanwhile, Porto won the Portuguese Cup, the Portuguese League, and the UEFA Cup. Before the 2003–04 season, Porto sold their striker Hélder Postiga. This allowed them to finally buy McCarthy for €7.856 million.
Winning the Champions League with Porto
For the 2003–04 Primeira Liga season, McCarthy was amazing. He won the Golden Boot award, scoring 20 goals in 23 matches. He scored a hat-trick (three goals in one game) on the last day of the season. He was also a huge part of Porto's journey in the 2003–04 UEFA Champions League, which they won! He famously scored two goals against Manchester United to help Porto win in the second round.
Playing for Blackburn Rovers
On 25 July 2006, McCarthy moved to England to join Blackburn Rovers. He signed a four-year contract for £2.5 million. This meant Blackburn often had two South African international players, with Aaron Mokoena already there.
McCarthy scored in his first game at Ewood Park against Everton on 23 August 2006. He also scored in his European debut for the club in the UEFA Cup. He finished as the second-highest scorer in the Premier League with 18 league goals. He scored 24 goals in all competitions that season.
The next season, McCarthy had a tougher start. He was injured in the first game against Middlesbrough. He also faced more competition for a starting spot. Still, he scored 11 goals in all competitions.
In the 2008–09 season, McCarthy seemed to be out of favor with the new manager. However, he proved himself by scoring a late equalizer against Middlesbrough. In total, McCarthy scored 52 goals in 140 matches for Blackburn.
Time at West Ham United
On 1 February 2010, McCarthy moved to West Ham United. He signed a two-and-a-half-year contract. He made his Premier League debut for West Ham against Burnley. He got injured in that game, which kept him out for six weeks.
In February 2011, McCarthy was left out of West Ham's squad for the rest of the 2010–11 season. He had played very little and hadn't scored any goals. In April 2011, McCarthy left West Ham by agreement. He had made only two Premier League starts and 14 appearances in total, without scoring.
Return to South Africa with Orlando Pirates
After leaving West Ham, McCarthy trained with his old club, Ajax Cape Town. On 2 August, Orlando Pirates signed McCarthy on a two-year deal. This ended his 14 years of playing in Europe. McCarthy was very happy to join, hoping to score many goals for the team.
McCarthy scored in his first game for Orlando Pirates. He scored two goals in the last half-hour to help the Pirates beat Golden Arrows 4–2 on 19 May 2012. This win helped them keep their Premier League title. He finished the season with ten league goals.
Winning the league with Orlando Pirates meant McCarthy made football history. He became the first South African footballer to win three league titles with three different clubs on two different continents. He had won titles with Ajax (Netherlands), Porto (Portugal), and now Orlando Pirates (South Africa).
McCarthy, known as "Big Brother" by Orlando Pirates fans, retired from professional football on 6 June 2013, at age 35.
Guest Appearance for Whitehill Welfare
On 13 July 2014, McCarthy played a special guest game for the Scottish club Whitehill Welfare. He scored a goal and set up another in a friendly match.
Benni McCarthy's International Career
McCarthy first played for the South Africa national team in a friendly game against the Netherlands on 4 June 1997.
He was the joint top scorer at the 1998 African Cup of Nations in Burkina Faso, with seven goals. This included four goals in just 13 minutes against Namibia. He was also named the best player of the tournament.
The 1998 FIFA World Cup in France was South Africa's first time reaching the World Cup. McCarthy was a key player. After a loss to France, South Africa played Denmark. McCarthy scored to tie the game 1–1. However, South Africa was eliminated after another draw against Saudi Arabia.
At the 2002 World Cup, McCarthy scored an equalizer against Spain. But South Africa lost 3–2 and was again eliminated in the group stage.
McCarthy sometimes had disagreements about playing for the national team. He even retired from international matches after the 2002 World Cup. But he returned in 2004. He then set the record for the most international goals for South Africa. His goal in a 3–0 win against Paraguay in 2008 broke the previous record of 29 goals held by Shaun Bartlett.
Before the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, McCarthy supported a campaign to ban guns from stadiums. He said it would be a "fantastic party" and guns had no place there. However, due to fitness issues, McCarthy was not chosen for the final South African squad for the 2010 World Cup.
Benni McCarthy's Coaching Career
Coaching in Scotland and Belgium
Living in Edinburgh since 2013, McCarthy joined the coaching staff of Alan Stubbs at the Scottish club Hibernian in April 2015. He wanted to learn about coaching. McCarthy knew Stubbs from their playing days. He helped with the Under-20 team and assisted the first team.
In February 2015, he also did a short training period at Sint-Truidense in Belgium. On 8 September 2015, McCarthy became an assistant manager there. He left Sint-Truiden in April 2016 for personal reasons.
Becoming a Head Coach in South Africa
On 13 June 2017, McCarthy was announced as the new head coach for Cape Town City. He completed his UEFA Pro License while coaching the team. In 2018, he won his first trophy as a coach, guiding City to win the MTN 8 cup. On 4 November 2019, McCarthy was dismissed from Cape Town City.
On 14 December 2020, McCarthy became the new head coach for AmaZulu. He led the club to a second-place finish in the DStv Premiership. This was the highest finish for AmaZulu in modern South African football. This success meant AmaZulu qualified for the 2021–22 CAF Champions League. McCarthy led AmaZulu to the group stages of the Champions League in their first time in the competition. McCarthy and AmaZulu parted ways on 25 March 2022.
Coaching at Manchester United
On 30 July 2022, McCarthy was appointed as a first-team coach at Manchester United. His contract with Manchester United ended on 27 June 2024. McCarthy chose not to renew his contract because he wanted to return to being a head coach.
Benni McCarthy's Personal Life
In 2004, McCarthy married Maria Santos from Spain. They had three daughters: Minna, Mya, and Allegra. They separated in 2007. In May 2014, McCarthy married Scottish model Stacey Munro. They have a daughter, Lima Rose (born 2012), and a son, Lio Romero (born 2019).
Benni McCarthy's Achievements and Awards
As a Player
Ajax
- Eredivisie: 1997–98
- KNVB Cup: 1997–98, 1998–99
Celta Vigo
- UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2000
Porto
- Primeira Liga: 2003–04, 2005–06
- Taça de Portugal: 2005–06
- Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 2003, 2004
- UEFA Champions League: 2003–04
- Intercontinental Cup: 2004
Orlando Pirates
- Premier League: 2011–12
- MTN 8: 2011
- Telkom Knockout: 2011
South Africa National Team
- African Cup of Nations runner-up: 1998
- Afro-Asian Cup of Nations: 1997
- Reunification Cup: 2002
Individual Awards
- African Cup of Nations Best Player: 1998
- African Cup of Nations Top Scorer: 1998 (shared)
- African Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament: 1998
- African Goal of the Year: 2004
- Ajax Talent of the Year (Marco van Basten Award): 1997–98
- SJPF Player of the Month: January 2004, May 2004, October 2004
- Primeira Liga Top Scorer: 2003–04
- Taça de Portugal Top Scorer: 2005–06
As a Manager
Cape Town City
- MTN 8: 2018
Discography
Singles
- 1998: "Shibobo" by TKZee featuring Benni McCarthy
See also
In Spanish: Benni McCarthy para niños
