Benni McCarthy has put his hot-shoot boots firmly in it this week — by declaring a hidden passion to sign for Manchester United, the very team his Blackburn Rovers may meet in this season’s FA Cup final.
After a disappointing 4-1 defeat against Sir Alex Ferguson’s title favourites on Saturday, McCarÂÂthy, never one for the quiet life, made an amazing ”come-and-get-me” plea to Manchester United.
It’s not as if McCarthy did his cause much good on Saturday. He was substituted for Iwan Roberts in the 69th minute and, after Rovers had taken a lead through Derbyshire after half an hour, the Rovers’ battle plan fell apart, leaving the whole team looking a little bemused as they shipped four goals.
And Rovers return to the same theatre of dreams — Old Trafford — in a fortnight to face the billionaire bunch known as Chelsea in the FA Cup semifinal where so many expect them to fall.
United, on the other hand, have only Watford, the Premiership’s lowest club, to dispose of at Villa Park.
Now is not a good time to express your feelings for United, Benni, be warned!
And things were going so well, too. McCarthy has surprised the nation with 18 goals — including the magnificent FA Cup strike against mighty Arsenal in the previous round — for Mark Hughes’s men this season since a bargain £2,5-million switch from FC Porto in July on a four-year contract.
McCarthy, the tough Capetonian who started life with Seven Stars and then moved to Ajax’s academy in Amsterdam after Stars and Cape Town Spurs merged to form the Dutch side’s South African franchise, will hardly endear himself to the gruff Lancashire fans at Ewood Park with outbursts like this.
Even at the best of times, Blackburnians have little time for Mancunians. Before a possible FA Cup meeting? No way.
But as the 29-year-old South African explains — the desire is born from the love South Africans have for the English sides and United’s particular stature in his home country: ”I have always dreamed about playing for United.
”They are the most popular [foreign] team back home in South Africa — at home, you find Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus and AC Milan are nothing in comparison.
”With the attackers that United have, I don’t think I have much chance of moving to Old Trafford.”
That may not be true though, and McCarthy (and his advisers) must surely know that. Swede Henrik Larsson has returned to Scandinavia, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is getting no younger and Louis Saha has injury problems, leaving the ever-watchful Ferguson surely questioning whether McCarthy may be a very useful option up front next to England star Wayne Rooney.
It’s not as if Sir Alex hasn’t heard of bolshie Benni.
Let’s not forget those distant days of February 2004 when McCarthy, then younger at 26 and even more impetuous, scored twice against United in the Champions League last-16 tie at Porto, where Roy Keane was sent off.
Ferguson, like most great managers, never forgets. That night McCarthy peeled away from Gary Neville and Wes Brown to meet Dmitri Alenitchev’s cross with a clinical right-foot volley for his first goal; the second was equally impressive, a superb header beyond Tim Howard from Nuno Valente’s cross. To make things worse, McCarthy’s free kick in the return leg at Old Trafford led to the late, late Costinho rebound that put United out of the tournament.
In those days, McCarthy’s mouth was positively out of control. He said afterwards: ”I was shocked by our spirit compared to them.
”I kept it secret that as a child I was a United supporter. I was surprised and disappointed that they were not like the team I had grown up watching.”
McCarthy added: ”We managed to completely outplay them, which was a big surprise to me.”
Now, three years on, McCarthy continues to put those talented feet in his mouth, insisting: ”I want to see myself playing for the best and you must have ambition because without it, players are nothing.
”That’s not being disrespectful to Blackburn because it is a very good club and the management, players and fans have all made me feel very welcome.
”At the moment, my ambition is to make Blackburn a big force in the Premiership and win the FA Cup — but I am a dreamer.”
Blackburn fans won’t like it, but if McCarthy scores the goals that get Rovers to the first FA Cup final at the new Wembley in May — and remember, he comes up against his old Porto boss and Fergie’s arch-enemy Jose Mourinho first — those dreams may just become reality.