A SIZEABLE throng of curious soccer followers, journalists, ex-soccer players and acquaintances gathered inside the Mall of Africa’s Exclusive Books branch for the much anticipated launch of erstwhile Bafana Bafana striker, Benni McCarthy’s memoir, Benni, during the rush hour early evening of Wednesday.
The intimate space was abuzz with guests securing over the counter sales of the fresh off the press tome and thereafter wasted not an eye’s blink by making a beeline to a podium where the current Kenya senior men’s football team’s manager was situated, to have their books signed.
In the background, TKZee’s soundtrack of the late 1990s, Shibobo – in which a then younger McCarthy featured – blared audibly whilst guests nibbled on snacks and sipped on wine while engaging in nostalgic conversations with the man of the moment, fellow former players Ricardo Katza and Mark Haskins, as well as notable soccer scribes such as the book’s collaborating author, Mark Gleeson, Matshelane Mamabolo, Jonty Mark and Kgomotso Mokoena.
The bulk of the more than two hours of the launch was occupied by a one-on-one conversation betwixt the Cape Town-raised sport-star and Gleeson, who took arguably South Africa’s most successful footballer along a memory lane punctuated by a string of firsts such as: being the country’s first player to score its first goal at a world cup; the first to score both a hattrick and the only one to bag four goals in internationals; and the only player to have won the UEFA Champions League.
Guests got to learn of McCarthy’s humble beginnings in the gang-ridden Cape Flats neighbourhood of Hanover Park where he first came into prominence as an above-average goal-getter whilst participating in the Sunday competitions locals referred to as the “Bundesliga.”
McCarthy hinted that the intensity of the community league in which he played against opponents older than himself served to toughen him for what lay ahead in a career which would take him from Cape Town’s professional outfit, Seven Stars – to Europe’s leagues in Holland, Spain, Portugal and England.
The much-travelled star remarked that such fixtures earned him more than what his dad brought home.
With Gleeson touching on over three decades of his fulfilling career, McCarthy was also forthright on the discipline and dedication it took to make it as a professional player – with him pointing out of the many who fell off along the journey.
A peer of the generation which boasted the likes of Junaid Hartley, Jabu Mahlangu, et al – McCarthy let the audience in on the transition to Ajax Amsterdam where he had to assimilate to the culture and language whilst he had to reside with a Dutch family (owing to still being a teenager), far away from his own back home.
He further mentioned that he had to teach himself European languages such as Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese by translating subtitles from television programmes. Culturally, he revealed that his time in Spain – where he played for Celta de Vigo – was the least enjoyable of his European sojourn because of the unamiable attitude of the Spaniards, which was the opposite of their Iberian neighbours, the Portuguese.
It is safely tucked away for posterity that his time in the city of Oporto constituted the most achieving of his career – during which his linkage with Jose Mourinho yielded a treble for FC Porto which included the 2003-2004 UEFA Champions League, and the Primeira Liga’s Golden Boot award for him personally.
McCarthy also disclosed bits of his close relationship with Mourinho – who wrote, “Benni had everything that a coach loves in a player” in the foreword to the memoir – whom he said once brought him biltong, upon the manager learning that the delicacy is a favourite of South African palates.
When Gleeson asked him to disclose the three best goals of his stellar career, McCarthy unsurprisingly mentioned the “shibobo” goal against Denmark’s Peter Schmeichel at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, as well as the glancing header he bounced home in the 2003-2004 UEFA Champions League second round game against his childhood favourite club Manchester United, and the free kick he bent whilst playing for Orlando Pirates FC.
During a question-&-answer juncture a pleasant surprise revealed itself in the form of McCarthy’s erstwhile teacher at Lansdowne’s Groenvlei High School, viz, Bruce Mohamed – who spoke glowingly of the example he had set for others to follow.
The erstwhile player also delved candidly into the not so sporty world of football which entailed death threats and players’ agents.
The session was rounded off by selfie moments with McCarthy and yet more book signing of copies purchased by new owners who had formed a snaking queue inside the bookstore. It had been a busy day for the now manager who divides his time betwixt the United Kingdom – where his Scottish wife and children reside – Kenya and South Africa, during which he did a flurry of media appearances appertaining to the book.
Co-written by McCarthy and Gleeson (who revealed that he was able to collate the bits contained in the tome by requesting interviews lasting an hour-at-a-time of the subject’s hectic schedule), Benni is a paperback published by Pan Macmillan South Africa.
It narrates about South Africa’s all-time top scorer who grew up under impoverished conditions on the Cape Flats and progressed on to perform in some of soccer’s biggest arenas around the globe.
A talented striker during his playing years, McCarthy top scored at the African Youth Championship and FIFA World Youth Championship in 1997; the Africa Cup of Nations in 1998; and Portugal’s Primeira Liga in 2003-2004.
A former Manchester United goalscoring coach and presently guiding Kenya’s senior men’s national team ahead of the country’s hosting of the 2027 African Cup of Nations tournament – a synopsis of the memoir describes McCarthy as a man who has, inter alia, overcome formidable obstacles comprising vindictive coaches, self-serving football administrators, throughout his career.
Top image Jacob MAWELA (Benni McCarthy limned posing with his new biography ‘Benni’ at Exclusive Books at the Mall of Africa).
