Wildly excited over the prospect of playing in the World Cup finals on home soil in 2010, prodigal Bafana Bafana son Benni McCarthy seems less enamoured over the prospect of playing in the 2008 African Nations Cup — or helping South Africa get to Ghana in the first place.
This emerged on Tuesday in an interview with the Blackburn-based striker that appeared on the Fifa website.
”I’m so excited,” said McCarthy when asked how he felt about playing in the 2010 tournament. ”It would be great to be there, to play in front of my people — and the fact that it’s the first World Cup final tournament ever to be played in Africa makes it even more exciting.”
The fact that McCarthy has not yet made himself available for the tricky 2008 African Nations Cup qualifying games or other recent international matches — which has aroused a groundswell of anti-Benni sentiment in the country — seems to have passed over the Blackburn player’s head.
Ultimately, the decision on approaching McCarthy about returning to Bafana’s ranks might rest with new coach Carlos Albert Parreira when he takes over at the start of 2007.
Parreira is unlikely to tolerate the same frustrations and ambiguities that other coaches have suffered in the past regarding McCarthy’s availability for his country.
In addition, apart from weighing up McCarthy’s prowess as a footballer, Parreira is shrewd and experienced enough to take into account the consequences of making allowances for one player and not others.
McCarthy also made it clear in the Fifa interview that he believes Bafana need an overseas-based coach ”because they are generally a lot more experienced and advanced than their South African counterparts”.
McCarthy said he had not made himself available for recent Bafana games because he wanted to establish himself in the gruelling English Premiership with Blackburn first — and because of his wife’s pregnancy. ”In the future,” he added, ”if they still think I’m the best striker, I’d be honoured to go back.”
But as to when and where, the prodigal Bafana son remained less forthcoming. — Sapa