Benni rightly eyes Broos’ Bafana job

Benni McCarthy in the Bafana Bafana coaching area? He may be excelling at English Premier League giants Manchester United as the striker coach, but is it such a far-fetched idea? Bafana may not be in the market for a new coach just yet after Belgian Hugo Broos, 71, guided the team to a credible third place finish at the Africa Cup of Nations in the Ivory Coast this month, but it would be folly to ignore McCarthy’s desire to coach South Africa one day.

He’s been there, scored the goals and swapped his shirt with legends of the game.

He’s scored 31 goals for Bafana in 79 appearances and also won a Champions League medal for Porto, while he also ran out for big clubs Celta Vigo, Blackburn Rovers and West Ham United, even though his spell at the latter was a flop.

McCarthy told iDiski Times: “Any player who turns to coaching or being a manager, his dream is to coach his national team. And for me, it’s even more so, the fire is burning even more so because of the fact that South Africa has never qualified for the World Cup since 2010 or, technically 2002 (Bafana only qualified in 2010 by virtue of being hosts). And that ghost is haunting me.”

He added: “I can help our national team qualify for the World Cup. And not just qualify for the World Cup, but going far. Going through the group stages and doing what Morocco and Ghana have done at previous World Cups. Listen. I don’t want to be Hugo Broos’ age when I take the Bafana job. I want to be able to still have the energy that I have. I want to be present for my players.”

McCarthy is 46 years of age. He has time on his hands.

A few more valuable years at Old Trafford can only do his coaching credentials good.

The South African Football Association would be silly not to take note of his ambitions.