Benni McCarthy

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Benni McCarthy
Personal information
Full name Benedict Saul McCarthy
Date of birth November 12, 1977 (age 29)
Place of birth    Cape Town, South Africa
Nickname Benni
Playing position Striker
Club information
Current club Blackburn Rovers
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1995-1997
1997
1998-1999
1999-2003
2001-2006
2006-		 Seven Stars
Ajax Cape Town
Ajax
Celta Vigo
Porto
Blackburn Rovers		 49 (39)
10 (6)
36 (21)
65 (10)
86 (46)
28 (12)   
National team2
1997- South Africa 65 (28)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 22:37, 23 March 2007 (UTC).
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of 1 October 06.
* Appearances (Goals)

Benedict Saul "Benni" McCarthy (born November 12, 1977 in Cape Town, South Africa) is a professional footballer, currently playing for English side Blackburn Rovers and South Africa.

Contents

[edit] Road to Amsterdam

Playing for Seven Stars, the 18-year old McCarthy scored 37 goals in 29 games in the 1995-96 season, followed by another 12 goals in 20 matches, which earned him a transfer to Cape Town Spurs which two years later merged with Seven Stars to form Ajax Amsterdam farm team Ajax Cape Town.

In 1997, after an impressive showing at the African Youth Cup and FIFA World Youth Championship, he joined the Dutch side, where he scored 9 goals and was crowned champion in his first season. After a relatively successful 1998-99 season he was sold to Spanish side Celta Vigo for a sum reported to be over 6m EUR, at the time the most expensive transfer for a South African player.

[edit] Spain

Although regarded as one of the best African players at the time, McCarthy never established himself as a regular choice for Celta Vigo's manager, Víctor Fernández. After two poor seasons at the Galician club, he was loaned to struggling FC Porto in the 2001-02 season where he soon rediscovered the form that took him to Europe.

At Porto he played under the then newly-appointed coach José Mourinho for an underperforming team had never been quite good enough to challenge for the top honours in Europe. However, that would soon change.

After representing Bafana Bafana in the 2002 African Nations Cup, his national side were knocked out in the semi-finals, McCarthy returned to Porto where he became the main force behind the team's recovery. He helped them to third place in the league and automatic qualification for the UEFA Cup by scoring an impressive 12 goals in only 10 matches, but Porto's finances did not allow them to keep the player, despite the desire of both sides to continue.

So, in 2002-03 Mccarthy returned to Celta Vigo where he spent a lot of time on the bench as squad player while Porto captured the League Cup in Portugal and the UEFA Cup. When former teammate Hélder Postiga was sold to English side Tottenham Hotspur in the 2003-04 season, Porto finally acquired the funds to buy McCarthy for a sum of €3.5 M.

[edit] FC Porto

On his return, McCarthy not only found club morale was at its highest for years, but that Porto now had a highly organized team with some of the best Portuguese players. He grabbed the Golden Boot award (with 20 goals in 23 games) on the final day with a terrific hat-trick, and was instrumental in Porto's superb run in the 2004 UEFA Champions League, which they won. Notably, he was responsible for scoring two goals against Manchester United to defeat them in the second round.

When José Mourinho left and was (shortly) replaced by Italian coach Luigi Del Neri, McCarthy considered leaving for the FA Premier League, but the two years left in his contract posed a problem. When the Italian coach was fired and replaced by his former Celta coach Fernandez (who he said he would rather quit playing than be coached by again) he tried to pressure Porto to sell him to Everton, who needed a replacement for Wayne Rooney.

Porto refused to sell and despite Fernandez praising McCarthy and describing him as a world class striker, rumours continued to rage about which Premiership club McCarthy would move to, with West Ham United and Blackburn Rovers being mooted as possible destinations. Blackburn Rovers were in talks with Porto but could not agree a fee. However, he stayed with the club and was rewarded with winning another Portuguese national championship with FC Porto in the 2005-06 season.

On 25th July, 2006, McCarthy flew out to England to undergo a medical and probable contract signing to join Blackburn Rovers [1] and, three days later, signed a four year contract with Blackburn Rovers for an £2.5m fee.

[edit] Blackburn Rovers

After a disappointing perfomance in the side's 3-0 defeat to Portsmouth, McCarthy found the net on his debut at Ewood Park against Everton on the 23rd of August 2006. McCarthy has proved to be an instant hit with the Rovers fans as they chanted his name throughout the game. He also managed to score a goal on his European debut for the club in a 2-2 against Salzburg in the UEFA Cup, which earned them a draw and also managed to get a fantastic goal in the return leg at Ewood Park, where they won 2:0. McCarthy further endeared himself to his fans on the 28th of February 2007 by scoring the winner in an FA cup tie against Arsenal.

[edit] Professional club goals

(correct as of 4 March, 2007)

Club Season League Cup[1] Europe Total
Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists
Ajax
1997-98 16 9 - - - - - - - 16 9 -
1998-99 19 11 - - - - - - - 19 11 -
Celta Vigo
1999-00 31 8 - - - - 5 3 - 36 11 -
2000-01 19 0 - - - - 4 4 - 23 4 -
2001-02 2 0 - 1 0 - 1 1 - 4 1 -
2002-03 14 2 - - - - 5 3 - 19 5 -
F.C. Porto
2001-02 6 12 - - - - - - - 6 12 -
2002-03 19 0 - - - - 4 4 - 23 4 -
2003-04 29 19 - - - - 12 4 - 41 31 -
2004-05 22 11 - - - - 9 3 - 31 14 -
2005-06 23 3 - 1 0 - 4 1 - 28 4 -
Blackburn Rovers
2006-07 27 12 1 4 3 1 8 3 0 39 18 2
Career totals 285 124 2

[edit] Racism row

On October 19, 2006, McCarthy, claimed to have been abused by Wisła Kraków defender Nikola Mijailović in a UEFA Cup tie. The FA confirmed: "We have written to Uefa, asking them to investigate allegations of racism."

Wisla claim they have already investigated the incident and found nothing to substantiate the claims. The judges of the match reported no insults exchanged between the two players. Blackburn manager Mark Hughes asked Uefa to take action and the FA added its support. Uefa had warned it may be difficult to find any "hard evidence", but Hughes said: "Uefa should take as strong action as it is allowed to do."The end result was that Mijailović was banned for five games. He appealed, however his case was thrown out.

[edit] National team

McCarthy was the joint top scorer in the 1998 African Cup of Nations in Burkina Faso with 7 goals, including 4 in 13 minutes against Namibia.

The 1998 FIFA World Cup in France was the first time South Africa's national football team had reached the finals and McCarthy (then at Ajax) was one of their key players. After a 3-0 defeat against future World Champions France, South Africa played their second game against Denmark. Trailing since the 13th minute, McCarthy tied the game at 1-1 in the 52nd minute and giving South Africa a chance for qualification. However, the third game also ended a draw (against Saudi Arabia), which left the South Africans in third place and eliminated from the competition.

The Korea/Japan World Cup saw history repeating for the South Africans. After a 2-2 draw against Paraguay and a 1-0 victory over the Slovenians, McCarthy's 30th minute equalizer in the last game against Spain was just not enough. South Africa eventually lost 3-2 and finished with another third place in the group stage.

There was often conflict over McCarthy's lack of participation in national team matches (whose interests often collide with the his clubs') and he actually retired from international games after the 2002 World Cup. However, he returned to the national team in 2004 and as of October 2005, he and Shaun Bartlett are joint leading goalscorers for the national team with 28 each. (Since both are still active, the lead may yet change several times.)

[edit] Titles

  • Dutch championship: 97/98
  • Dutch Cups: 97/98, 98/99
  • Portuguese championships: 03/04, 05/06
  • Portuguese Cups: 05/06
  • Portuguese supercups: 03/04, 04/05
  • UEFA Champions League Cup: 03/04
  • FIFA Intercontinental Cup: 2004

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Includes FA Cup, League Cup and FA Community Shield

[edit] External links


Flag of South Africa South Africa squad - 1998 FIFA World Cup Flag of South Africa

1 Vonk | 2 Mnguni | 3 Nyathi | 4 Jackson | 5 Fish | 6 Masinga | 7 Fortune | 8 Phiri | 9 Bartlett | 10 Moshoeu | 11 Mkhalele | 12 Augustine | 13 Buckley | 14 Sikhosana | 15 Khumalo | 16 Baloyi | 17 McCarthy | 18 Morula | 19 Radebe | 20 Mokoena | 21 Issa | 23 Gopane | Coach: Troussier
Flag of South Africa South Africa squad - 2002 FIFA World Cup Flag of South Africa

1 Vonk | 2 Nzama | 3 Carnell | 4 A. Mokoena | 5 Lekgetho | 6 Sibaya | 7 Fortune | 8 Mngomeni | 9 Mukasi | 10 Mnguni | 11 Pule | 12 T. Mokoena | 13 Issa | 14 Nomvethe | 15 Zuma | 16 Arendse | 17 McCarthy | 18 Buckley | 19 Radebe | 20 Marlin | 21 Pienaar | 22 Molefe | 23 Koumantarakis | Coach: Sono
Blackburn Rovers F.C. - Current Squad

1 Friedel | 3 Khizanishvili | 4 Todd | 5 Tugay | 6 Nelsen | 7 Emerton | 8 Savage | 9 Nonda | 10 McCarthy | 11 Bentley | 12 Gamst Pedersen | 13 Enckelman | 14 Reid | 15 Mokoena | 16 Henchoz | 17 Jeffers | 18 Gallagher | 19 Dunn | 20 Ooijer | 21 Samba | 22 Warnock | 23 Brown | 25 Berner | 27 Derbyshire | 28 Fielding | 29 Treacy | 30 Roberts | 31 Peter | 32 Nolan | 33 Gray | Manager: Hughes
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