Benni reveals his 2010 heartbreak
SNUB: FEELS HE COULD HAVE OFFERED PLENTY TO THE 2010 BAFANA CAUSE
Strongly rejects reports he was left out because he invited girls to his hotel room.
Benni McCarthy says he suffers a broken heart every time he thinks about being left out of Carlos Alberto Parreira’s squad for the 2010 Fifa World Cup finals.
McCarthy was one of five Bafana players dropped from Parreira’s final 23-man squad for the tournament, which he announced on 1 June 2010, a decade ago this week.
The year 2010 was a difficult one for McCarthy, signing for West Ham United from Blackburn Rovers at the end of the January transfer window, but then getting injured on his debut, battling with his weight and making only five league appearances for the London side that season.
He arrived in the Bafana camp visibly overweight, but clearly feels he could have offered plenty to the Bafana cause. He also strongly rejects reports at the time that he was left out of the squad because he invited girls up to his hotel room.
“The excuse they gave the nation was that I brought girls to the hotel, are they f***ing out of their mind or what?” McCarthy said this week, in an interview with the South African Football Journalists Association.
“Every time you see something that reminds you of 2010 it does break your heart over and over again,” added McCarthy on his omission from the squad.
“You have worked your entire life, your whole career, from growing up in Hanover Park, overcoming that and having the career I have had…succeeding in Europe… I failed at times but mostly I did exceptionally well. I played in two World Cups (in 1998 and 2002) but for the one that stands out the most, that I was dying to play in…in South Africa in front of your people, to have that disappointment…I have to thank the Brazilians for that.
“With everything going on with my club situation (at West Ham), I think Parreira at the time rode the wave (by leaving him out).
““I was having trouble at West Ham so he could make it about me being unfit and overweight. Maybe I was overweight but at training I stood out like a sore thumb.
“Where I had been and what I had compared to other players in the squad, you could see a hell of a difference.
“Even three or four kilograms overweight I was better than most players there because of my experience and how bad I wanted to be playing in the World Cup for my country. I worked extra hard to get myself in a good condition.”