Cape Town City face Buccaneers in cup clash
NOBODY needs to tell Benni McCarthy anything about Orlando Pirates. The Cape Town City coach has always had a soft spot for the Soweto club and he also finished off his playing career in the black and white of the Buccaneers.
The two clubs clash in a Nedbank Cup last 16 tie at the Cape Town Stadium tonight (kickoff 7.30pm) – and McCarthy is fully aware of the challenge in store for City. He also knows that every player in his squad wants to be part of the occasion. But he’s confident that, as a squad, everybody will be fully behind those chosen to play.
“Playing against Pirates, these are the big games players all dream of,” said McCarthy. “There will be a great atmosphere. Pirates are in good form and, after their win over Chiefs in the Soweto derby, this fixture is a great platform for the players. But this is a once-off, so anything can happen. I’d like to think that we are the underdogs, which means we can go into the game with ease and just play our game with no pressure.
“For us, every Cup competition is an opportunity for silverware. We lost out in the MTN8 final and we were knocked out of the Telkom, so this is a chance for us to redeem ourselves. We are using Ubuntu Cape Town’s run in the competition to inspire us – and, if we get past this stage, who knows perhaps we’ll draw them for a great Cape derby.
“For us, there’s everything to play for and we are good and ready for Pirates. The toughest part will be for me to pick the 18 that makes the match-day squad, never mind picking the 11 to play. Some players will be disappointed, but that’s football.”
McCarthy declared himself “95 percent” certain of his team selection for tonight’s tie. There are two issues he needs to make a call on: the fitness of industrious midfielder Thabo Nodada; and he has to decide whether this is the right time to blood Masoud Juma, the Kenyan striker signed in January.
“Thabo was struggling with injury and I’m not sure how well he has recovered. He’s the type of player that I will always have in my squad... he leaves everything on the pitch, and I love his attitude on and off the field. But I will have to see how he goes at training.
“Juma is ready, he is back from injury. He’s looking good at training, though he probably still lacks a bit of match fitness. I would like to give him a run against Pirates, so that I can get an idea of what we have signed.”
McCarthy, fresh from a visit to English Premiership giants Manchester City last week, has come back to Cape Town energised and inspired. The exposure to football at a higher level gave McCarthy fresh motivation as he builds his career as a coach. The 40-year-old former Bafana Bafana striker spent last week in Manchester as part of his UEFA Pro Licence course. He has spent the last few days at training imparting the knowledge and information gained on his European sojourn.
“I got to see a different side of football,” said McCarthy. “I mean just to see the facilities at Man City, it was an unbelievable experience. It was just unfortunate that we didn’t get to see the first team train, to see the genius of Pep (Guardiola, Man City manager), but we saw how they work with the U21s. It was good to see how they apply themselves and now the challenge is to repeat what they do. And how can that not inspire you? Because the end-game, as a coach, is to be in charge of such a big club, and even try to grow this club (CT City) into something big. When I came back, the players all wanted to know how it went, and how they go about things, so I gave them a Man City training session yesterday.”
CAF Confed Cup 1st round, 2nd leg Sunday: CT City v Costa do Sol (Athlone Stadium, 4pm) – City won the first leg 1-0.