Benni in the Bafana area?

Limba Mupetami







WINDHOEK

Recent South African media reports have claimed that football legend Benni McCarthy has been offered the national team’s coaching job.

However, the South African Football Association (SAFA) on Sunday said McCarthy’s name comes up at a time when his side AmaZulu are at the top of the log standings, and that it might appear as though the association is trying to derail the club’s good run.

McCarthy is Bafana’s top scorer with 31 goals. The former player has transformed AmaZulu and taken the team to the second spot on the DStv Premiership, right behind Mamelodi Sundowns.

If the alleged reports are true, McCarthy will become the 15th Bafana Bafana coach in just a decade, replacing the recently-sacked Molefi Ntseki.

SAFA is no stranger to firing coaches left, right and centre, booting out Ntseki when the team failed to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon).

Players need role models

Namibian Sun spoke three former players - Ricardo Mannetti, Robert Naoseb and Ronnie Kanalelo - about McCarthy’s possible appointment.

The three played against the football legend back in the day when the two nations clashed.

Mannetti said he knew right away that McCarthy would get the top job.

“When I saw the list of coaches SAFA wanted, I knew his name would be there.

“The reasons are simple. He is a role model to a lot of players in the current structure because he has done it all: He played in Europe, the Champions League as well as Afcon,” he said.

“It is very important to be led by someone who has done it and who has been there before. Modern-day players will doubt you if you talk the talk, but haven’t walked the journey before,” Mannetti added.

He said McCarthy can relate to the players because of his age and because he’s a local boy made good, having been involved in music and being part of the lifestyle, “and that's very important for the relationship between a coach and a player”.

Unorthodox

Mannetti added that Bafana needs someone who is a little unorthodox in their approach.

“They need someone who understands their limitations and won’t give them a false sense of power on the continent. In my opinion, Bafana and SAFA must first accept that they are no longer a powerhouse in Africa and they have to re-visit a lot of things and rebuild.”

Naoseb, who is currently the head coach of the Brave Gladiators and the assistant coach of the Brave Warriors, said – if true – it would be a good appointment for South Africa. He said McCarthy has been doing tremendously well with AmaZulu and that he has wanted this job for the last three years.

Meanwhile, Kanalelo said he will wait till SAFA makes an official announcement before sharing his thoughts.

Big challenge

According to goal.com, former national team head coach Shakes Mashaba has warned McCarthy about the difficulties of the position.

“The new coach must not be appointed based on the pressure SAFA is put under. It mustn't be a decision made because certain people influenced it.

“Coaching the national team is a big challenge. You can succeed at club level, but coaching a national team is another thing,” he said.

McCarthy was asked about the national coaching job at a press conference last week and said his loyalties lie with AmaZulu.

“When you do well and you become successful, you get linked to everything‚” he said.