All Article Properties:
{
"access_control": false,
"status": "publish",
"objectType": "Article",
"id": "2492149",
"signature": "Article:2492149",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-12-04-benni-mccarthy-sets-massive-goals-for-his-coaching-career-after-man-united-tenure/",
"shorturl": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2492149",
"slug": "benni-mccarthy-sets-massive-goals-for-his-coaching-career-after-man-united-tenure",
"contentType": {
"id": "1",
"name": "Article",
"slug": "article"
},
"views": 0,
"comments": 2,
"preview_limit": null,
"excludedFromGoogleSearchEngine": 0,
"title": "Benni McCarthy sets massive goals for his coaching career after Man United tenure",
"firstPublished": "2024-12-04 00:19:30",
"lastUpdate": "2024-12-04 00:19:34",
"categories": [
{
"id": "29",
"name": "South Africa",
"signature": "Category:29",
"slug": "south-africa",
"typeId": {
"typeId": "1",
"name": "Daily Maverick",
"slug": "",
"includeInIssue": "0",
"shortened_domain": "",
"stylesheetClass": "",
"domain": "staging.dailymaverick.co.za",
"articleUrlPrefix": "",
"access_groups": "[]",
"locale": "",
"preview_limit": null
},
"parentId": null,
"parent": [],
"image": "",
"cover": "",
"logo": "",
"paid": "0",
"objectType": "Category",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/category/south-africa/",
"cssCode": "",
"template": "default",
"tagline": "",
"link_param": null,
"description": "Daily Maverick is an independent online news publication and weekly print newspaper in South Africa.\r\n\r\nIt is known for breaking some of the defining stories of South Africa in the past decade, including the Marikana Massacre, in which the South African Police Service killed 34 miners in August 2012.\r\n\r\nIt also investigated the Gupta Leaks, which won the 2019 Global Shining Light Award.\r\n\r\nThat investigation was credited with exposing the Indian-born Gupta family and former President Jacob Zuma for their role in the systemic political corruption referred to as state capture.\r\n\r\nIn 2018, co-founder and editor-in-chief Branislav ‘Branko’ Brkic was awarded the country’s prestigious Nat Nakasa Award, recognised for initiating the investigative collaboration after receiving the hard drive that included the email tranche.\r\n\r\nIn 2021, co-founder and CEO Styli Charalambous also received the award.\r\n\r\nDaily Maverick covers the latest political and news developments in South Africa with breaking news updates, analysis, opinions and more.",
"metaDescription": "",
"order": "0",
"pageId": null,
"articlesCount": null,
"allowComments": "1",
"accessType": "freecount",
"status": "1",
"children": [],
"cached": true
},
{
"id": "30",
"name": "Sport",
"signature": "Category:30",
"slug": "sport",
"typeId": {
"typeId": "1",
"name": "Daily Maverick",
"slug": "",
"includeInIssue": "0",
"shortened_domain": "",
"stylesheetClass": "",
"domain": "staging.dailymaverick.co.za",
"articleUrlPrefix": "",
"access_groups": "[]",
"locale": "",
"preview_limit": null
},
"parentId": null,
"parent": [],
"image": "",
"cover": "",
"logo": "",
"paid": "0",
"objectType": "Category",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/category/sport/",
"cssCode": "",
"template": "default",
"tagline": "",
"link_param": null,
"description": "",
"metaDescription": "",
"order": "0",
"pageId": null,
"articlesCount": null,
"allowComments": "1",
"accessType": "freecount",
"status": "1",
"children": [],
"cached": true
},
{
"id": "38",
"name": "World",
"signature": "Category:38",
"slug": "world",
"typeId": {
"typeId": "1",
"name": "Daily Maverick",
"slug": "",
"includeInIssue": "0",
"shortened_domain": "",
"stylesheetClass": "",
"domain": "staging.dailymaverick.co.za",
"articleUrlPrefix": "",
"access_groups": "[]",
"locale": "",
"preview_limit": null
},
"parentId": null,
"parent": [],
"image": "",
"cover": "",
"logo": "",
"paid": "0",
"objectType": "Category",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/category/world/",
"cssCode": "",
"template": "default",
"tagline": "",
"link_param": null,
"description": "",
"metaDescription": "",
"order": "0",
"pageId": null,
"articlesCount": null,
"allowComments": "1",
"accessType": "freecount",
"status": "1",
"children": [],
"cached": true
}
],
"content_length": 5988,
"contents": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">South African soccer legend </span><a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-08-07-benni-in-the-18-area-as-he-joins-manchester-united-as-striker-coach/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Benni McCarthy</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is in no rush to return to coaching as he assesses his options following a two-year tenure with English Premier League side Manchester United. McCarthy was part of the now sacked Erik ten Hag’s backroom staff, working as a striker coach. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He left Manchester before the start of this season, having joined in July 2022. Ten Hag and his technical team succeeded in ending a six-year trophy drought for United when they orchestrated overall victory in the 2022/23 Carabao Cup. The Red Devils also won last season’s FA Cup.</span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2491849\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/1242947824.jpg\" alt=\"mccarthy ronaldo\" width=\"1170\" height=\"1755\" /> <em>Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United celebrates the 3-1 victory with Benni McCarthy during the Premier League match against Arsenal at Old Trafford on 4 September 2022. (Photo: Robbie Jay Barratt / AMA / Getty Images)</em></p>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, the team’s</span><a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-09-21-manchesters-red-devils-in-desperate-pursuit-to-reignite-lost-magical-aura/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> overall displays </span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">were a rollercoaster and culminated in United finishing eighth in the 2023/24 league campaign. It is the team’s lowest league placing since the Premier League was introduced in 1992.</span>\r\n<h4><b>Well-timed departure </b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">McCarthy opted to not renew his two-year contract when it lapsed at the end of last season, as he was hungry to return to being a head coach. It was a shrewd decision as Ten Hag has since been sacked and new United manager Ruben Amorim has brought in his own staff. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The former striker, who played for teams such as Portuguese side Porto and English team Blackburn Rovers, previously coached in the South African Premiership. In his first job as head coach, he won the MTN8 with Cape Town City in 2018.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">McCarthy then moved to AmaZulu in 2020, guiding the underdogs to second spot on the Premiership log after they had finished just five points clear of relegation the season before his arrival. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The following campaign Usuthu struggled to replicate that form as they juggled the Premiership and the Caf Champions League; McCarthy was dismissed as a result.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In October 2024, AmaZulu sacked Pablo Franco as their coach and the team’s hierarchy made an effort to rekindle their relationship with McCarthy. It was a futile exercise.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“My mindset is elsewhere. But I’m not closing any doors to coming back home or anywhere else in Africa. But my ambitions are extremely high. The MLS [US Premiership], the Premier League, La Liga, the Portuguese league… That’s where I’m looking to go next,” McCarthy told journalists on Tuesday in Johannesburg. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The tactician was speaking at a media event to update on the preparations for the Carling Black Label Cup, which is scheduled for 21 December. During the annual exhibition match, recently crowned Carling Knockout champions Magesi will take on a</span><a href=\"https://www.idiskitimes.co.za/carling-knockout-cup/latest-carling-all-star-xi-revealed/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Premiership All Star team</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> voted for by fans.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During his conversation with journalists, McCarthy also revealed that he has had concrete engagements with three teams from the US’s top flight, the Major Soccer League (MLS).</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“I’ve had three interviews with three different MLS clubs. Their season is almost finished and most teams have taken a break. Only the two teams (LA Galaxy and New York Red Bulls) in the playoff final for the league are active. So, teams are assessing and interviewing coaches, in case a coach loses his job, they have candidates ready. I’m in the frame for a few teams,” McCarthy said.</span>\r\n<h4><b>Man United experience </b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">McCarthy said that coming from Hanover Park in Cape Town (which is plagued by rampant gang violence) only to find himself coaching at a team such as the Red Devils had shown him that the sky was the limit.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“That’s why my ambitions are so high. Because what are the chances of someone coming from Hanover Park in the Cape Flats, coaching in South Africa and then having a chance to see what things look like inside Manchester United? I was there for two years, that was my home,” he said. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“It’s a different level of professionalism, a different level of everything. Working with players that you don’t really need to tell anything,” McCarthy said. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“They come to training two or three hours before a session. When you arrive, the players are already prepping. In South Africa, if training starts at 9am, one minute before, everyone is still rushing in… So, now that I’ve got a taste of that level, I want to have it all the time. It will be hard to dip,” the former striker said. </span>\r\n<h4><b>What could have been…</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">McCarthy, who is Bafana Bafana’s all-time top scorer (with 31 goals in just over 80 games), also took time to reflect on his playing career. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He is the only South African with a European Champions League gold medal, having won it as part of Jose Mourinho’s Porto team in 2004. Mourinho departed for Chelsea after masterminding that European conquest, and he was keen to have McCarthy. However, Porto refused to sell him.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“I underachieved. Not that I’m selling myself short, but I could have done better. Especially when it came to playing for Bafana Bafana,” McCarthy said. “I made about 80 appearances. I could have made about 120 or more. I could have scored 70 or 80 goals.”</span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2491851\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/101128487.jpg\" alt=\"mccarthy south africa\" width=\"1750\" height=\"1142\" /> <em>Benni McCarthy and Cristian Zapata during the international friendly between South Africa and Colombia at Soccer City in Johannesburg on 27 May 2010. (Photo: Lefty Shivambu / Gallo Images / Getty Images)</em></p>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“But all that went missing because of the whole ‘club versus country’ issue, with people saying “Benni doesn’t want to play for his country”. But they never walked a mile in my shoes. I was misunderstood. So, I’m gutted that I didn’t fully play to my potential for Bafana Bafana,” the 47-year-old said.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Then Chelsea tried to sign me when I was at Porto. Then again when I was at Blackburn, but it never materialised because the clubs didn’t want to release me. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When you sit back and think, I could have been part of that Chelsea team and maybe formed a partnership with [Didier] Drogba. Because at that stage of my career, I was one of the best African players. I’m happy with what I achieved, but at the same time disappointed that I did not achieve my full potential,” said McCarthy.</span><b> DM </b>",
"teaser": "Benni McCarthy sets massive goals for his coaching career after Man United tenure",
"externalUrl": "",
"sponsor": null,
"authors": [
{
"id": "19802",
"name": "Yanga Sibembe",
"image": "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/sibembe.jpg",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/author/yanga-sibembe/",
"editorialName": "yanga-sibembe",
"department": "",
"name_latin": ""
}
],
"description": "",
"keywords": [
{
"type": "Keyword",
"data": {
"keywordId": "6178",
"name": "Sports",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/keyword/sports/",
"slug": "sports",
"description": "",
"articlesCount": 0,
"replacedWith": null,
"display_name": "Sports",
"translations": null
}
},
{
"type": "Keyword",
"data": {
"keywordId": "15707",
"name": "Orlando Pirates",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/keyword/orlando-pirates/",
"slug": "orlando-pirates",
"description": "",
"articlesCount": 0,
"replacedWith": null,
"display_name": "Orlando Pirates",
"translations": null
}
},
{
"type": "Keyword",
"data": {
"keywordId": "20074",
"name": "Manchester United",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/keyword/manchester-united/",
"slug": "manchester-united",
"description": "",
"articlesCount": 0,
"replacedWith": null,
"display_name": "Manchester United",
"translations": null
}
},
{
"type": "Keyword",
"data": {
"keywordId": "53021",
"name": "soccer",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/keyword/soccer/",
"slug": "soccer",
"description": "",
"articlesCount": 0,
"replacedWith": null,
"display_name": "soccer",
"translations": null
}
},
{
"type": "Keyword",
"data": {
"keywordId": "68771",
"name": "Benni McCarthy",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/keyword/benni-mccarthy/",
"slug": "benni-mccarthy",
"description": "",
"articlesCount": 0,
"replacedWith": null,
"display_name": "Benni McCarthy",
"translations": null
}
},
{
"type": "Keyword",
"data": {
"keywordId": "378935",
"name": "Carling Black Label Cup",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/keyword/carling-black-label-cup/",
"slug": "carling-black-label-cup",
"description": "",
"articlesCount": 0,
"replacedWith": null,
"display_name": "Carling Black Label Cup",
"translations": null
}
}
],
"short_summary": null,
"source": null,
"related": [],
"options": [],
"attachments": [
{
"id": "45389",
"name": "Benni McCarthy and Cristian Zapata during the international friendly between South Africa and Colombia at Soccer City in Johannesburg on 27 May 2010. (Photo: Lefty Shivambu / Gallo Images / Getty Images)",
"description": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">South African soccer legend </span><a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-08-07-benni-in-the-18-area-as-he-joins-manchester-united-as-striker-coach/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Benni McCarthy</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is in no rush to return to coaching as he assesses his options following a two-year tenure with English Premier League side Manchester United. McCarthy was part of the now sacked Erik ten Hag’s backroom staff, working as a striker coach. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He left Manchester before the start of this season, having joined in July 2022. Ten Hag and his technical team succeeded in ending a six-year trophy drought for United when they orchestrated overall victory in the 2022/23 Carabao Cup. The Red Devils also won last season’s FA Cup.</span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2491849\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1170\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-2491849\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/1242947824.jpg\" alt=\"mccarthy ronaldo\" width=\"1170\" height=\"1755\" /> <em>Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United celebrates the 3-1 victory with Benni McCarthy during the Premier League match against Arsenal at Old Trafford on 4 September 2022. (Photo: Robbie Jay Barratt / AMA / Getty Images)</em>[/caption]\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, the team’s</span><a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-09-21-manchesters-red-devils-in-desperate-pursuit-to-reignite-lost-magical-aura/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> overall displays </span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">were a rollercoaster and culminated in United finishing eighth in the 2023/24 league campaign. It is the team’s lowest league placing since the Premier League was introduced in 1992.</span>\r\n<h4><b>Well-timed departure </b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">McCarthy opted to not renew his two-year contract when it lapsed at the end of last season, as he was hungry to return to being a head coach. It was a shrewd decision as Ten Hag has since been sacked and new United manager Ruben Amorim has brought in his own staff. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The former striker, who played for teams such as Portuguese side Porto and English team Blackburn Rovers, previously coached in the South African Premiership. In his first job as head coach, he won the MTN8 with Cape Town City in 2018.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">McCarthy then moved to AmaZulu in 2020, guiding the underdogs to second spot on the Premiership log after they had finished just five points clear of relegation the season before his arrival. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The following campaign Usuthu struggled to replicate that form as they juggled the Premiership and the Caf Champions League; McCarthy was dismissed as a result.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In October 2024, AmaZulu sacked Pablo Franco as their coach and the team’s hierarchy made an effort to rekindle their relationship with McCarthy. It was a futile exercise.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“My mindset is elsewhere. But I’m not closing any doors to coming back home or anywhere else in Africa. But my ambitions are extremely high. The MLS [US Premiership], the Premier League, La Liga, the Portuguese league… That’s where I’m looking to go next,” McCarthy told journalists on Tuesday in Johannesburg. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The tactician was speaking at a media event to update on the preparations for the Carling Black Label Cup, which is scheduled for 21 December. During the annual exhibition match, recently crowned Carling Knockout champions Magesi will take on a</span><a href=\"https://www.idiskitimes.co.za/carling-knockout-cup/latest-carling-all-star-xi-revealed/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Premiership All Star team</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> voted for by fans.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During his conversation with journalists, McCarthy also revealed that he has had concrete engagements with three teams from the US’s top flight, the Major Soccer League (MLS).</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“I’ve had three interviews with three different MLS clubs. Their season is almost finished and most teams have taken a break. Only the two teams (LA Galaxy and New York Red Bulls) in the playoff final for the league are active. So, teams are assessing and interviewing coaches, in case a coach loses his job, they have candidates ready. I’m in the frame for a few teams,” McCarthy said.</span>\r\n<h4><b>Man United experience </b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">McCarthy said that coming from Hanover Park in Cape Town (which is plagued by rampant gang violence) only to find himself coaching at a team such as the Red Devils had shown him that the sky was the limit.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“That’s why my ambitions are so high. Because what are the chances of someone coming from Hanover Park in the Cape Flats, coaching in South Africa and then having a chance to see what things look like inside Manchester United? I was there for two years, that was my home,” he said. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“It’s a different level of professionalism, a different level of everything. Working with players that you don’t really need to tell anything,” McCarthy said. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“They come to training two or three hours before a session. When you arrive, the players are already prepping. In South Africa, if training starts at 9am, one minute before, everyone is still rushing in… So, now that I’ve got a taste of that level, I want to have it all the time. It will be hard to dip,” the former striker said. </span>\r\n<h4><b>What could have been…</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">McCarthy, who is Bafana Bafana’s all-time top scorer (with 31 goals in just over 80 games), also took time to reflect on his playing career. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He is the only South African with a European Champions League gold medal, having won it as part of Jose Mourinho’s Porto team in 2004. Mourinho departed for Chelsea after masterminding that European conquest, and he was keen to have McCarthy. However, Porto refused to sell him.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“I underachieved. Not that I’m selling myself short, but I could have done better. Especially when it came to playing for Bafana Bafana,” McCarthy said. “I made about 80 appearances. I could have made about 120 or more. I could have scored 70 or 80 goals.”</span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2491851\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1750\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-2491851\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/101128487.jpg\" alt=\"mccarthy south africa\" width=\"1750\" height=\"1142\" /> <em>Benni McCarthy and Cristian Zapata during the international friendly between South Africa and Colombia at Soccer City in Johannesburg on 27 May 2010. (Photo: Lefty Shivambu / Gallo Images / Getty Images)</em>[/caption]\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“But all that went missing because of the whole ‘club versus country’ issue, with people saying “Benni doesn’t want to play for his country”. But they never walked a mile in my shoes. I was misunderstood. So, I’m gutted that I didn’t fully play to my potential for Bafana Bafana,” the 47-year-old said.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Then Chelsea tried to sign me when I was at Porto. Then again when I was at Blackburn, but it never materialised because the clubs didn’t want to release me. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When you sit back and think, I could have been part of that Chelsea team and maybe formed a partnership with [Didier] Drogba. Because at that stage of my career, I was one of the best African players. I’m happy with what I achieved, but at the same time disappointed that I did not achieve my full potential,” said McCarthy.</span><b> DM </b>",
"focal": "50% 50%",
"width": 0,
"height": 0,
"url": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/1242235522.jpg",
"transforms": [
{
"x": "200",
"y": "100",
"url": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/1O1WkZ27NuJto_xXMIn0eDHJ4GM=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif()/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/1242235522.jpg"
},
{
"x": "450",
"y": "0",
"url": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/VWSkr5DxAPviiOtmiAgHUPLNPYQ=/450x0/smart/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/1242235522.jpg"
},
{
"x": "800",
"y": "0",
"url": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/Jy8jfVCifgIQvP-E6ExoOA3-Yxk=/800x0/smart/filters:strip_exif()/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/1242235522.jpg"
},
{
"x": "1200",
"y": "0",
"url": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/0FVzMdVLrA7heXRGDuyoNGHi8hM=/1200x0/smart/filters:strip_exif()/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/1242235522.jpg"
},
{
"x": "1600",
"y": "0",
"url": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/KJTd7jAly9l0zcks2qNPwetqs2Y=/1600x0/smart/filters:strip_exif()/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/1242235522.jpg"
}
],
"url_thumbnail": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/1O1WkZ27NuJto_xXMIn0eDHJ4GM=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif()/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/1242235522.jpg",
"url_medium": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/VWSkr5DxAPviiOtmiAgHUPLNPYQ=/450x0/smart/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/1242235522.jpg",
"url_large": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/Jy8jfVCifgIQvP-E6ExoOA3-Yxk=/800x0/smart/filters:strip_exif()/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/1242235522.jpg",
"url_xl": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/0FVzMdVLrA7heXRGDuyoNGHi8hM=/1200x0/smart/filters:strip_exif()/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/1242235522.jpg",
"url_xxl": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/KJTd7jAly9l0zcks2qNPwetqs2Y=/1600x0/smart/filters:strip_exif()/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/1242235522.jpg",
"type": "image"
}
],
"summary": "A two-year spell as striker coach at Manchester United has left Bafana Bafana’s all-time top scorer hungry for similar tests.",
"template_type": null,
"dm_custom_section_label": null,
"elements": [],
"seo": {
"search_title": "Benni McCarthy sets massive goals for his coaching career after Man United tenure",
"search_description": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">South African soccer legend </span><a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-08-07-benni-in-the-18-area-as-he-joins-manchester-united-as-striker-coach/\"><sp",
"social_title": "Benni McCarthy sets massive goals for his coaching career after Man United tenure",
"social_description": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">South African soccer legend </span><a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-08-07-benni-in-the-18-area-as-he-joins-manchester-united-as-striker-coach/\"><sp",
"social_image": ""
},
"cached": true,
"access_allowed": true
} 
Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United celebrates the 3-1 victory with Benni McCarthy during the Premier League match against Arsenal at Old Trafford on 4 September 2022. (Photo: Robbie Jay Barratt / AMA / Getty Images)
Benni McCarthy and Cristian Zapata during the international friendly between South Africa and Colombia at Soccer City in Johannesburg on 27 May 2010. (Photo: Lefty Shivambu / Gallo Images / Getty Images)