Will Benni be better prepared this time against Buccaneers?

IF THERE’S a club Benni McCarthy has always had a soft spot for, it’s Orlando Pirates. It’s the reason why, when he returned to South Africa in 2011, after a successful European sojourn, he spent two years at the Soweto club to see out his career. In the process, he was also able to add the PSL title to his many accolades.

Tomorrow night, as head coach of Cape Town City, McCarthy will have to put aside any lingering sentiment when his team tackle Pirates in a PSL fixture at Orlando Stadium (7.30pm kickoff).

Having come off a 2-0 loss to the other Soweto giant, Kaizer Chiefs, last week, the Capetonians will be determined to avoid defeat this time. Against Amakhosi, McCarthy’s City were undone by a simple taste of their own medicine, in that Chiefs setback, allowed the Cape side to have the ball, and hit them effectively on the counter. Will Pirates do the same? Will rookie coach McCarthy be better prepared this time?

Also, against Chiefs last week, the former Bafana Bafana striker made six changes to the starting team, adamant that he needed to rotate because of a tough programme that saw City qualify for next month’s MTN8 final against SuperSport United. While the players who came in did the business as far as performance was concerned, the result wasn’t forthcoming. Now the big question is: Against Pirates, what can we expect from McCarthy with regards to the starting team?

One thing’s certain, former Pirates stars like Robyn Johannes and Teko Modise will be keen to have a go at their former club. Modise, 34, and Johannes, 30, were teammates of McCarthy during his years at Pirates – and the trio will likely be cooking up a devilish recipe to ensure they emerge with something positive from tomorrow’s clash against their former club.

After Pirates tomorrow, City have another challenge on Friday when they host Polokwane City at Cape Town Stadium, while neighbours Ajax Cape Town are in Polokwane on Saturday afternoon to take on an in-form Baroka FC.

For McCarthy and club boss John Comitis, the big issue now is to get new Nigerian star Victor Obinna on the field. Signed last week, the 30-year-old striker, who has played for Chievo and Inter Milan in Italy, Malaga in Spain, West Ham in England, Lokomotiv Moscow in Russia and MSV Duisburg and SV Darmstadt in Germany, and was a teammate of McCarthy at West Ham, is expected to make his debut sometime this week.

Comitis is in the process of sorting out the player’s registration and said his availability for tomorrow’s Pirates game is “50-50”, but for Friday against Polokwane it is “a definite yes”.