Benni: Pitch holds the aces

Tshepo Ntsoelengoe

Cape Town City FC coach Benni McCarthy (above) says their MTN8 semifinal clash with Bidvest Wits at the Cape Town Stadium tomorrow will be a totally different ball game, with the pitch being the difference on the day.

City have already registered a win against the Clever Boys at the Bidvest Stadium in a league game. And McCarthy believes playing at the Cape Town Stadium which is much bigger than the Wits homeground will allow both teams to play a passing game.

“Bidvest Stadium is a little matchbox pitch. It’s nice and close, they suffocate you on that pitch. They are accustomed to it. They train there and know every bounce of the ball on that pitch. Teams that go there have to adapt, so you can’t really play there,” said McCarthy, who has registered three wins out of three games with City.

“Our pitch is twice as big as theirs and it is a carpet, there will be much more football played. They also have players who can play football, Steven Pienaar, Daylon Claasen, Thabang Monare or if they play Granwald Scott. All these guys can play and they want the ball at their feet.”

McCarthy, meanwhile, will be facing his former mentor Gavin Hunt who missed their previous meeting due to a red card. The City coach says he badly wants to win and he is confident of his team’s ability to do so.

“We are prepared and we know what we are going to be up against. If we turn up on Sunday ready to fight and ready to go to war, I am pretty confident with my team that we will win. I want to win desperately and only afterwards I will joke with the coach and say the student is slowly becoming the master.”