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| Benni McCarthy – Photo: Kick Off |
During his heyday with Porto and Blackburn Rovers, Benni McCarthy was regarded as a top quality striker who could take the game away from any team.
Highlights of McCarthy’s playing career included winning one Dutch Eredivisie title with Ajax as well as two Primeira Liga title and the Champions League title with Porto.
McCarthy also is the all-time top scorer for the South African national team with 31 goals from 80 appearances. He was a participant for his country during the 1998 and 2002 World Cups as Bafana Bafana was eliminated during the group stage of both competitions.
To many McCarthy is however best remembered for his time with Blackburn Rovers between 2006 to 2010. While he never managed to help the club win silverware during his spell at Ewood Park, McCarthy established himself as a fan favourite among many Rovers faithful and was arguably one of the club’s best players during the 21st century so far along with Brad Friedel.
McCarthy memorably finished as the second highest scorer in the Premier League during the 2006-07 season with 18 goals and just two behind the top scorer of that season which was Didier Drogba of Chelsea.
After leaving Rovers in 2010, McCarthy went on to have an unsuccessful spell with West Ham United. Thereafter he joined Orlando Pirates in his homeland of South Africa where he had a successful spell before retiring from the game in 2012 as a player.
McCarthy began his managerial career at the highest level with Cape Town City in South Africa in 2017. Despite working with a limited budget as compared to traditional South African giants Mamelodi Sundowns, Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs, McCarthy did an impressive job at the helm of Cape Town City, guiding the club to third place in the League. He also won silverware with the club as he led them to the Telkom Knockout Cup.
McCarthy has so far shown impressive signs in the early phase of his managerial career. Could McCarthy one day manage Blackburn Rovers and be the man to revive the club? Only time will tell.
