As a breadwinner and a family man, Benni McCarthy should be commended for consciously considering his priorities right. This shows that in spite of having achieved a lot, he has not overlooked his values as an African man, which are to care for his future and that of his family.
Everyone is quick to lash-out at Benni with vitriolic insinuations that “he is not patriotic enough”, but one thing that people forget is that the current situation at the national team is not favorable for a player of his calibre. Benni is a good player and he does not need to prove anything to nobody.
His achievements alone speak volumes. Inconsistency and lack of urgency of some players (except for Steven Pienaar and Matthew Booth) ‘kills’ Benni every time Bafana Bafana loses a game. Football is a short career, and as Benni is in fine-form, he should indeed be cautious in compromising his future for a team that is not ready to compete at international level.
Benni’s actions are justifiable and no sober judge would ever find him guilty in this matter. It is imaginable how throbbing it is for Benni to have to go back to England after losing a game because of player’s stage fright, lack of experience and commitment, which unfortunately he can do zilch about.
Until football is depoliticized, Benni should maintain his position in personally accessing every particular Bafana squad before he comes to join them. This is not a sin. He has his pride and reputation to salvage after all.
Who will support his family when he retires or falls out of favour in England because of low morale and lack of confidence?
How on earth can we conceive in a sober state of mind, a player that used to partner Ricardo Quaresma, Deco, Ricardo Carvalho, Roque Santa Cruz and the likes, be partnering Mabhuti “miss the target please” Khenyeza in one game, and Excellent Walaza in the next match and play comfortably? He does not even know where on earth these chaps come from!
The common mantra of dubbing Benni unpatriotic and uninterested is tantamount to defamation, gross insinuation with malicious intention. These insinuations should be dismissed and regarded as irresponsible and un-African.
Benni is of ‘world class’ quality and our local players need to pick up their pace and match his level. Moreover, Santana must not even make a mistake of not including him in the World Cup squad. It would be a confirmation of his ticket back to his native land.
Benni is our talisman and savior; He is our ‘football messiah’. Logic suggests that he should be the captain of the team to instill more confidence on the other lads.
Great to be back and writting for FOOTBALLfevr.com again.
Till next time! 
April 21st, 2009 at 10:51 am
Hi edgar, it’s been a while…
This doesnt make it write for him to pick and choose games when he pleases, the country might need him but there will be a time when he will need the country…
April 21st, 2009 at 10:52 am
And no player is bigger than his country, ask anyone that
April 21st, 2009 at 11:18 am
Firstly, if fat Benni was such a great player why would he be warming the bench at Blackburn? Which “fine from” are you referring to? Teko Modise is in fine form, Steven Pienaar is in fine form.., do you even watch or understand anything about football broer? Just because he played with a few Portuguese players in the development stages of their careers in the lowly ranked Portuguese league doesn’t make one a star.
If he was spirited and gutsy he would follow in the footsteps of great players who, despite an obvious lack of talent in their nations, never abandoned them but did all they could to help them. The “patron saint” George Weah, Adrily Shevschenko, Tim Cahill of the Aussies, Roy and Roby Keane of Rep of Ireland, Craig Bellamy of Wales, Kanoute and Diarra of Mali. The list is endless. These highly talented players whom by comparison Benni looks like a midget, always retrace/d back home to help their lowly countries claim a stake in world football. You want to know the real reason why Benni can’t do the same: because he lacks the talent, the ability and the guts to do so. ADD to that : he is FAT!
Now tell me George Weah, Kanioute, Diarra, even Emannuel Adebayor : are these playesr unAfrican. Your argument is incoherent and poorly reasoned baba, sorry! Next time think before you write!
April 21st, 2009 at 11:19 am
It is simple matter
If Benni is too good to play for Bafana then he should not play for Bafana. If he is too good to play with Khenyeza and Walaza now, then he should be too good to play with them in the world cup.
Why would he want to embarrassed in the WC if he cannot stand it in friendly?
April 21st, 2009 at 11:30 am
@Mas,
I must say I agree with you a 100%, there are far much better players (African players) who always put their country first, the fact that McCarthy can’t even pitch for his country and always makes excuses tells you that he holds no ‘african values’ as Edgar puts it, McCarthy should just be banned from ever playing for Bafana… he insults the citizens of this country with no remorse at all!
April 21st, 2009 at 11:42 am
@Mas,
What a well thought comment, I know this might sound odd coming from me, but you are spot on!
So why did I publish the article even when I clearly disagree with McCarthy’s action?
– Well, it’s always good to have other people’s point of view, in this case, Edgar, our writer, looks at the whole situation with a rather different view, whi I think is good because it opens a debate and we can get how other people feel about the situation… you digg?
April 21st, 2009 at 11:45 am
@Madida, thanks for adding your comment man, I think all that i can add to your comment is a full stop, if you know what I mean
April 21st, 2009 at 11:59 am
One Word for this Article: NONSENSE. Based on the following
Is Benni Better than Andry Shevshenko? Ryan Giggs, Ole Gunnar Soljaer? Yorke? The answer is an obvious NO. These above mentioned players have represented their countries with pride and patiotism…Now tell me that this spoilt Capetonian is too good to play with his fellow country-men…It is this kind of west-is-good that will forever corrupt our mind as Africans…
Benni needs to grow up and act like an adult…He must retire from international football and surely we won’t miss him…Im sick of this joke callled Benni…Look at Drogba, The guy is more successful than what Benni can imagine, but he represent his country no-matter what…Emmanuel Adebayor..These guys are patriots..not Benni..His ego is bigger than mount everest…
This will hunt him in the future…For the record I don’t think he will enjoy the kind of endorsements that the likes of Lucas Radebe enjoys…He is not a public icon…We will always rememebr him for being a traitor…
April 21st, 2009 at 12:11 pm
Na baba……..I did noit finish the article coz you just lost me when you said “Bennie is on fine form”…..I dont know what the hell are you talking about!!
April 21st, 2009 at 12:13 pm
@Hehehe Tity-GP,
Eish Im speechless, I always wondered what he’s gonna do when the world ditches him? is he gonna come back here… Lucas is a legend in Leeds, he left a legacy, what legacy will Benni leave?
I wish Edgar was around to respond to all of these questions
April 21st, 2009 at 12:41 pm
Until such time SAFA stop sucking Benni’s behind and until such time when talks like ” we need Benni” STOP. Benni will never see his wrong on what is he doing?
SAFA must stop treating Benni as if he is a South African Mesiya! We don’t need him.
April 21st, 2009 at 1:05 pm
This article is a joke. I won’t bother attacking him because the previous guys have done a good enough job. Benni can eff off for all I’m concerned.
April 21st, 2009 at 1:35 pm
Heita gents, i hope you are all well. I am impressed with the vibe my piece caused in this platform. The platform was a bit dormant and something ‘controversial’ would waken us… well, that was my idea.
The latter was actually my point of view… getting people to reason and give their different perspective pertaining the subject matter. Some chaps are arguing that i make no sense, which i respect, but i do not necessary agree with all those who think i am just being abnormal and ludicrous.
For the record, the so called ‘lowly’ Portuguese league produced the current best player in the world – Cristiano Renaldo! Luis Figo, Peixe Capucho, Riccardo Carvalho, Nani, Ricardo Quaresma, Sergio Conceicao, Victor Baia, Mario Jardel… the list goes on and on… all came from that league, and became respected brands internationally. And in that same league Benni was the League’s top scorer for two years. He is the only Southern African player to have won the champions league. Tity-GP … how do you justify your argument?!
I just thought that Benni should not be responsible for the mediocre administration of football within our shores – if you know what I mean.
Going to Didi (Drogba), Mano (Adebayor), Kanoute and others. I am from Angola, and despite the limited resources my country has to run football, our government does the necessary to support the national team (without any politics), so much so that we qualified for our first ever World cup and we did not disappoint Africa… I can say that with pride!
If you look at the Cote D’voire ‘s squad you we will see that most of these players are playing together and consistently for over 1o years. If you follow football you will agree with me that the Cote D’voires’ football crumbled in the late 90’s and the country embarked on a massive restructuring of the national team, which took +/- 10 years.
The same applied to Ghana. The government made sure that there would be life after Abedi Pele, Fofana and others. The same applies to Nigeria, who has a solid development strategy. There was life after Emanuel Amunique, Sunday Olise, Celestine Babayaro, Rachid Yekiny and others. Senegal, there was life after Julius Bocande, and they stunned the world by beating France in the world Cup.
What did SAFA do after Lucas, Mark Fish and others? You tell me!?
The Angolan team that qualified for the World Cup played together for more than 12 years, and see what they did? We were given a green light to host the African Cup of Nations in 2010. A couple of players went on to sign lucrative contracts all over the world. Flavio our deadly marksman and Gilberto are my neighbors. I can categorically tell you that Gilberto knows Flavio better than his own brothers, because they stuck together for over 12 years. We had a dream and we worked towards that. The coach who tok the team to the world Cup, worked with those players from the under15. See what they did!
Carlos Queiroz worked with Figo, Peixe, Capucho, Joao Pinto (who was the most expensive player in Europe in the 90’s), Victor Baia, Pacheco, and they became under20 world champions. Wher are those players now? They are stars.
Do you know anybody in THE Bafana BAFANA team that is in the squad playing consistently for more than 5 years? Give me at least 60% of the squad.
Going back to Benni. Who is the top goal scorer at Blackburn? B-E-N-N-I. In his first season, the whole Great Britain knew that there was a new kid on the block… am I lying? I don’t blame him from refusing to come and play when he knows that the team will lose. He is not a sangoma, but he understands football and can logically predict things in football.
Coming to play for your national team should be fun. I am sure that they get elate to know that “I am going to see my buddys”, but Benni can’t say that coz he never knows who is in and who is out for various reasons.
Why was Papi Zotwane dropped out? He had one terrible game against Zambia and all of a sudden he is nowhere to be seen. Is this how you run football?
Where is Mabizela, Pule, Vilakazi, Katza, Lekoelea, Wallaza… you don’t even have a right back, well i think Moon is better than Gaxa. You see these are the things that pisses Benni off. He has been there and than that, and he is our best layer in South Africa; no doubt about it. Until people understand football, this is what we gonna get…. Mediocrity!
This is my story.
April 21st, 2009 at 1:50 pm
Calvin… you can’t compare Lucas and Benni… Lucas has retired and never ever won the UEFA champions league; he was never a top goal scorer in any league. How many teams did Lucas play for in Europe? Legacy is an old thing baba; what counts are achievements. The other day i raised this concrn, and sombody told me: “na baba… Teko is better than Benni. I just thought this person needs to see a Psychiatrist. We talking about a player that admired the most high paid coach in the world, JOSE MOURINHO. Mourinho said if BlackBurn did not stay in the way of Benni, today he would be a Chelsea stakeholder. When African players come here, they only ask for Benni none else. Ofcourse he has his mistakes, but he justifies why he tolks too much with his skills on the field; just like Mohamed Ali.
April 21st, 2009 at 1:54 pm
@Edgar,
Thanks for the much anticipated response, I almost got murdered here, hehehehe
April 21st, 2009 at 2:15 pm
No worries man… i need more people to make their hard-drive (brains) work and come up with another bomb. I shall respond to to everyone. At first i hated Benni, but i just thought i should be singing the same song just because every one is singing it – you see. I had to look outside the box and form my own opinion which people will disagree, reprove, ignore and call me names. This is my point. Think with my own head… I am a liberal and will always b controversial…if necessary.
April 21st, 2009 at 2:16 pm
LOL, do u seriously think Pule and mabizela should be in the current sqaud?
April 21st, 2009 at 3:02 pm
1. Lucas was a defender,
2. Although he never won it, he played in Champions League
3. A legacy is an achievement, hence you have a Radebeer
On Benni, someone gave you George Weah as an example, you can’t beat that. In a country ravaged by civil war and this man still finds it in him to not only represent his war-ridden country but sponsor it as well. Hell, and we are talking about a former world player of the year.
April 21st, 2009 at 3:12 pm
so good players steven pienaar, Benni Mccathty, Price moon, Mathew Booth bla blah blah. i see where you getting with this one. @ Calvin you need to save your blog broer, invest on the likes of Muzi to write for you at least they write objectively and make sense. this piece is a joke and does not need to be entertained any further. Cheers!
April 21st, 2009 at 3:35 pm
This one has really caused a stir, they’ll always be a difference of opinion, thats why we have this kind of plaforms, to discuss and argue these different opinions @Mas
April 21st, 2009 at 4:35 pm
Biggs and Zane and mas… with all due respect; if you understand football, you would agree with me that Pule and Mabizela are players who should be ready to play in this World Cup. By this i mean that those are players who should be protected, disciplined and groomed to be starts ahead of this mega tournament. Players are like Kids who need to be guided, protected and disciplined. Look at Messi? If Barcelone would never set up the development programe Messi followed, today we would read headlines like “Messi found Speeding on the N3 with a Crossfire”… “Messi found drinking like a fish”. But they discilined players and today those players are starts. I did not mean to offend nobody, but rather wanted people to make me think that i am wrong in my views. I personaly dont see that i make no sense, and as a human being i guess i have the right to differ in opinion. At an intellectual platform like this we should all understand that we are not equals and will not always see things the same way.
Lets have fun and continue the debate. If you think i am being radical, then i respect your sentiments, but will never agree with you … at least not with this one.
Jhon Terry is a defender, but he i one of the best scoreers for Chelsea. Pule has talent and Mabizela is one of the Best defenders in the country… i am not shifting the blame to none, but those players lacked a father figure at the development level. I am a die hard fan of this game, and it pains me to see young talent wasted like that. What do you think will happen to a kid who lives in abject poverty, gets a contract of millions, and a salary of R100.000 a month, something that his fathers never saw nor touched in their entire existence? Managers are there to get money from these kids period. If they were tot discipline, things would be different. Did you all know that in the USA, for you to play you must have education? If you have no college education you will never play professionally there; ofcourse there will always be exceptions. This is what we do not do here. LIKE IT OR NO…BENNI is a star, and he will show Africa that he is the best during the world cup.
April 21st, 2009 at 8:47 pm
You know Edgar I really tried to make a reasonable argument to your posts but the more I read it the more I think you must be taking the piss.
You may be creating debate but in the process your losing all your credibility.
Let me try anyways…
1. Benni is in fine-form
**8 League goals and 1 FA Cup goal this season. What fine form?**
2. Benni should maintain his position in personally accessing every particular Bafana squad before he comes to join them.
**Sorry man but what are you smoking if you think things should work like this? Do you think Santana must email the team sheet to Benni before calling him up?**
3. Who will support his family when he retires or falls out of favour in England because of low morale and lack of confidence?
**You actually think Benni will retire because of low morale?Again what were you smoking?**
4.How on earth can we conceive in a sober state of mind, a player that used to partner Ricardo Quaresma, Deco, Ricardo Carvalho, Roque Santa Cruz and the likes, be partnering Mabhuti “miss the target please” Khenyeza in one game, and Excellent Walaza in the next match and play comfortably?
**At the moment he is partnering Cristopher Samba, Jason Roberts, Stephen Warnock, Keith Andrews, Tuncay and Diouf to name but a few. The great players your referring to(from 2004) have all moved on to greater things while Benni is about to play in the Coca Cola Championship with Blackburn next season.
Look its all good and well to be “radical” and get people talking but in the process you are losing all credibility as a writer Edgar.
April 21st, 2009 at 11:31 pm
Ooooh! Low blow there, calm down guys, just a debate….
April 21st, 2009 at 11:36 pm
@ Calvin
Apologies. I didn’t know Edgar was a South African citizen. But the rest of my argument stands
April 23rd, 2009 at 11:44 am
Heita folks… i hope everyone is back to their sences and more calm, and am looking forward to reading some exciting things here. Could anybody come up with something on the table and make us debate? Just as it was dubbed a ’sin’ not to vote but wanting to complaint, it is equally unacceptable to be on the sidelines and just criticise without getting involved. mas – ma main man… i trust that you got something up your sleeves man… you quite vocal to things that donsnt go accordting to your ideology… which is great for the advancement of our quest to free the human mind from thinking like a liberal and in his own feet. Folks i have something else to write about, and hope that yall will voice your opinions on that one too.
Heita hola.
Edgar
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:14 pm
Nice one Edgar, hpe everyone has indeed calm down…
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:18 pm
The tryth of the matter is Edgar…Benni is not Patriotic and that is the main Problem…How do you explain the snubbimg of the team cause “He wants to babysit his daughter”..This was a crucial AFCON qualifier…Whats next..Im injured…
surely you can see a pattern of events from this chap…I just can’t wait for someone with ball to ignore Benni forever…He is just average anyway…
April 23rd, 2009 at 2:18 pm
@Tity-Gp,
I’ve realised one thing about our National team selector / s. They have too much respect for Benni, way too much it’s not even justifyable…
April 23rd, 2009 at 2:42 pm
Correction comrade Calvin and comrade Tity-GP… your assertion pertaining to Benni is out of order. Comrade Tity-GP Ubunto teaches us that your family should be your first priority, and i dont see any malice in Benni being a father figure to his daughter. Can’t SAFA at least understand that the man needs to be with his family too? Would his wife/girlfriend be happy to know that he prefered to go play soccer than spend quality time with is family? As a father to be, i understand what Benni felt… when you are a father, the moment you think of your child, you wanna be there with him/her no matter what. Our players should capitalize on Benni’s busy schedule and win that vital jersey of Benni in Bafana Bafana.Parker is showing singns to be the man, so lets just hope that he maintain consistency.
April 23rd, 2009 at 2:47 pm
Tity-GP average is a players that can be replaced at anytime in the team. Players like Aaron Mokoena, Gaxa, Khanieza, Walaza and the likes are average. Benni will make you jump from your seat when he scores against Brasil, Spain and/or Italy in the Confed Cup.
April 23rd, 2009 at 3:15 pm
Wena Edgar, you must stop smoking, hehehehe! kidding but on a serious note, you gotta admit that Benni doesnt give a damn about South Africa, he only looks out for his needs, now the spirit os Ubuntu as you’ve mentioned does not make provision for selfish acts in order for a certain individual to achieve his personal goals or desires…
May 29th, 2009 at 2:13 pm
luk here evry1 knows that so far benni is the topest player in mzansi that is the truth & bliv me we still need big tym who is going to score goalz without benni less goalz leyo i varrrrrr.
May 29th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
BAFANA BAFANA is super fine but i personaly think we should focus on our dribling & atarcking football, pertaining the team i really trust the guys we will make to the semifinals & the finals even victory if we go all out like BARCELONA
June 4th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
My man,,i tink it would be much better if you remove that Benni article,,,every second i spend on the sentence my sugar level rises…the less said about it the better.
June 4th, 2009 at 6:04 pm
@Dumisani,
Hola mfwethu, thanks for commenting, I think we’ll just leave it here for the sake of it you know, let everyone know how we feel about him, who know maybe he reads footballfevr
July 14th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
the writer is SO DAMN RIGHT! WE DO NEED BENNI,IF SANTANA OR SAFA DOESNT,TO HELL WITH THEM,WE ,THE bafana bafana SUPPORTERS NEED HIM,IF HE IS NOT INCLUDED IN THE SQUAD,THEN MZANSI IS GOING TO HAVE EMPTY STADIUMS! WE NEED TO SEE GOALS!!!!!!!!& BENNI WILL GIVE THEM TO US!
by the way,we are so tired,seeing DEFENDERS CAPTAINING the bafana bafana team,we’ve seen those who made us proud,the likes of neil tovey and lucas radebe,they made us not only proud by proudly south african!
THIS TIME AROUND WE A QUALITY PLAYER,LIKE BENNI MC’CARTHY,A PLAYER WHOM the other psl players would gain confidence from. BENNI SHOULD CAPTAIN OUR bafana bafana team!!!! we really HEED HIM AS CAPTAIN!!!!
SAFA PLEASE DO SOMETHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
July 14th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
the writer is SO DAMN RIGHT! WE DO NEED BENNI,IF SANTANA OR SAFA DOESNT,TO HELL WITH THEM,WE ,THE bafana bafana SUPPORTERS NEED HIM,IF HE IS NOT INCLUDED IN THE SQUAD,THEN MZANSI IS GOING TO HAVE EMPTY STADIUMS! WE NEED TO SEE GOALS!!!!!!!!& BENNI WILL GIVE THEM TO US!
by the way,we are so tired,seeing DEFENDERS CAPTAINING the bafana bafana team,we’ve seen those who made us proud,the likes of neil tovey and lucas radebe,they made us not only proud by proudly south africans!
THIS TIME AROUND WE NEED A QUALITY PLAYER,LIKE BENNI MC’CARTHY,A PLAYER WHOM the other psl players would gain confidence from. BENNI SHOULD CAPTAIN OUR bafana bafana team!!!! we really HEED HIM AS CAPTAIN!!!!
SAFA PLEASE DO SOMETHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
July 14th, 2009 at 8:44 pm
@Chris,
Thanks for your comment, let’s hope SAFA and Santana are listening
August 28th, 2009 at 10:40 am
But Benni should not forget that he’s known internationally ’cause of Bafana Bafana.Jomo Sono gave him a chance to play for Bafana in CAF where he was spotted.Its pay back time.
November 3rd, 2009 at 7:55 am
hi there i agree with EDGAR 100% which of you who are commenting bad about Benni has seen him play recently if anyone of you’ll have seen Benni play receently then you’ll would eat you’lls words that man is the best player that s.a. have ever produced like it or lap it he’s a prolific goal scorer s.a. doesn’t have any strikers like that and who ever says that they do prove it all the s.a. strikers that they have now are inconsistent s.a.really do need Benni and that’s that.
November 11th, 2009 at 10:26 am
so, now that Benni has apologised?