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McCarthy's Spanish inquisition In football fortune can be a fickle thing. Four years ago everything Benni McCarthy touched seemed to turn to gold. The Cape born teenager was top scorer at the Cup of Nations in Burkina Faso, had joined the European gravy train with Ajax and was on his way to the World Cup. Now 1998 seems a long time ago after a move to Spain turned sour. Now McCarthy is struggling to cement a club place at Portugal's Porto and finding it hard to make an impact with Bafana Bafana.
McCarthy thinks he can put his finger on the reason why he is not having the same impact at national level at the moment. "It was relatively easy in Burkina Faso because there I was unknown," he says. "I was just a young kid given an opportunity to play for his country. I proved what I could do and came back one of the best players in the tournament. Now I'm a marked man because everyone knows about me. Wherever I go I'm always going to find it difficult to play the football I want to. It's almost impossible for strikers to score the goals." While there is some truth in that, given the defensive nature of African national teams at the moment in the Nations Cup, McCarthy has also had a troubled time at Celta Vigo in Spain whom he joined from Ajax. After an initially successful period a change in management has seen him enduring a long spell on the sidelines that culminated in protracted negotiations for a move to England. His current loan move to Porto is a temporary respite from his Spanish inquisition. "I didn't come to England because of greed. I was doing very well at that moment and my club thought they could get a lot more money than they were being offered. I don't know where they got the price from and that was what held me back. They were ridiculous sums of money." "The trainer at the club (at Celta) brings a lot of good young players to the team and then he doesn't give them the opportunity to play. He's got a good eye to bring talent to the club, but the minute you are there, they neglect you and don't give you the opportunity to play. They tell you that you are on a learning basis and have to wait your chance. In football age is nothing but a number. The coach could only place his trust in players around 30 years old. That had me sitting frustrated on the bench, not allowed to play or move to England. The result was an unhappy player who did not want to play for the team and just wanted to move to anybody who would give him an opportunity." It all means that Benni McCarthy is looking for a club this summer. "I'd like to play for a club that plays attractive football, has ambition (I'm an ambitious young player who wants to win trophies) and is a positive club. The best of my football years is to come." The World Cup may be just the salvation he needs to end this period of torture. "I would prefer to have a club already so that I have the stability at the World Cup and then don't have the pressure to go to this team or that team. Then after the World Cup I'll be able to have a good rest with my family and then go back too work." "We are in a
difficult group, but we are not in a group of death. It is not a situation
when you say there is no way you are going to get past this stage. If
we have a bit of luck, then we can either come first or second. Spain
hardly have a perfect record when it comes to big tournaments, no one
knows a lot about Paraguay or Slovenia. If you have good performances
then at the end of the day you can get through to the second round and
from there anything can happen." |
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