Benni Denies Sundowns Links, Eyes MLS Opportunities
Benni McCarthy has dismissed rumors that he was linked to the Mamelodi Sundowns coaching position during the off-season, following Rulani Mokwena’s departure.
McCarthy, who has previously coached Cape Town City and AmaZulu in the PSL, is currently a free agent after his contract with Manchester United ended. He was also linked with the vacant head coach position at Kaizer Chiefs.
“Honestly, I haven’t spoken to Sundowns. There have been rumors, but rumors were also circulating about me joining Chiefs. Rumors are just rumors, and I don’t pay attention to them,” said McCarthy.
“But I have not spoken to Sundowns, there has been no dialogue between me and the team, so that’s first out of the way.
“I think they have got coaches there that are experienced. So, we have to give these coaches the respect that they deserve and stop putting them to the unnecessary under pressure by creating me going somewhere because those coaches have to do their job.
“They are top coaches, very good coaches, people that I respect a lot. So, I want them to work peaceful and do what they have to do because they are not doing it for their football club, they are doing it for South Africa because we want to prove to the world that African football is on the up.
“But also South Africa, to show that we do have one of the best leagues on the continent and we can get closer to some of the European leagues, that is what we have to break into.
“Teams like Sundowns, team like Orlando Pirates, team like Chiefs, they have to maintain that when they play on the African continent to make sure that South Africa’s name is there.
“I think these coaches need to have peace, need to have the respect. So, I don’t step on anyone’s toes but the chance of me going to Sundowns is absolutely false.”
McCarthy did acknowledge meeting Sundowns technical director Flemming Berg at an airport in Europe but emphasized that their conversation was about his past at FC Porto, not about any coaching opportunities.
“It could be,” explained McCarthy when asked about the rumors of having a coffee with Berg.
“How? I don’t know. If you bump into someone at the airport because I was traveling to my coaching badges and I was going to Wales, via London and we met at the airport. It was just normal chat and it wasn’t about ‘Sundowns are opened (for a new coach)’ and the conversation was nowhere near that.
“I didn’t get any feeling that (they were looking for a coach). He was telling me about my time when I played at FC Porto when he was working for Chelsea and he was living in Portugal so he came to watch and we met each other a few times and I was younger then.
“So, we were just talking general stuff outside South African football and that was it.
“I think, based on that, I can see why people put one and one together and came up with two and said ‘Eyy, that could be the case’.
“But it wasn’t like that because they seem to be happy with the coaches that they have and they should be because they are on top of the league again for the seventh year in a row or even longer.”
While McCarthy dismissed the Sundowns rumors, he revealed that he has had interviews with three different clubs in Major League Soccer, where his agent Rob Moore has strong connections. “So, I’m in the framework for a few teams there,” he added.
McCarthy was speaking at the Carling Black Label press conference on Tuesday where he is their ambassador.
