City could be kingmakers
CAPE TOWN City look a lot like Benni McCarthy with each passing game. The Citizens don’t back down from a fight like their Hanover Park-born coach. Just like McCarthy, City have a habit of destabilising the order and they thrive on challenging authority.
The plucky Capetonians knocked Bidvest Wits off their perch in a thrilling 3-2 win where City showed character and great fighting spirit. They will need those traits against Sundowns tonight. City lost the first round game 3-2, and those points helped the Brazilians to the summit of the Premiership standings for the first time this season.
McCarthy downplayed his team’s chances of challenging for the championship after that rude-awakening by the reigning champions. He continued on that note after the win over the Clever Boys.
“We pride ourselves in that we’re a hardworking team,” McCarthy said. “We want to be amongst the top (teams) and the best. Every week is a building process for us. I don’t think we’re championship material just yet, but we are working towards that. With performances like this (one against Wits), the guys believe a lot more and next season they could be ... contenders.”
That’s the coach in McCarthy speaking – playing mind games with his players and their rivals. City are just four points behind Sundowns having played one game more. The winner in McCarthy though struggles to keep up with the “act” of them not being contenders.
“Football is for winning,” McCarthy said, emphasising the winning. “We play to win! It’s painful when you lose. As much as it was expected for Sundowns to run us down, but for us in the dressing room it was painful. We back ourselves against anybody. We like to take the hand grenade, pull the pin out and throw it in that mob there. We then see what happens, who blames who. We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. We beat an exceptional strong Wits team, a team that can still go on and win the league because they have crazy depth. For us to show that fighting spirit is good. It’s something to look forward to in the next game.”
The Citizens have shaken the country’s football landscape since their formation three seasons ago. They are fresh and energetic. In three seasons they have lifted two trophies – the Telkom Knockout under Eric Tinkler and the MTN8 under McCarthy. The Premiership is too much of an ask for them at the moment with a coach who is still finding his feet. But City and McCarthy’s future is bright.
“If we can get Chris David up to speed,” McCarthy said.
“Those defence splitting passes that you need, (he has them). With the movement from Kermit (Erasmus) and Shaka (Siphelele Mthembu) when he comes back – then we would have a good partnership.”