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Benni: People said I was overrated when I joined AmaZulu

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  • Post published:June 3, 2021

AmaZulu coach Benni McCarthy has hit back at critics who doubted his coaching ability after he was sacked as head coach of Cape Town City back in 2019.

The 43-year-old coach led Usuthu to qualify for the Caf Champions League for the first time in the club’s history after they defeated Swallows FC 1-0 in the DStv Premiership on Wednesday.

AmaZulu’s win over the Bird ensured that they will finish the 2020-21 campaign in second place, with one game left to play against Maritzburg United over the weekend.

‘I’m just extremely excited and happy for the players, you know. I think they deserve it, they have been fantastic throughout the season. Yes, I know people are saying that in the last two games we didn’t get a win and that we were off the pace. But when you have a 16-game unbeaten run, of course somewhere along the way people are going to take you off your perch and that’s exactly what happened. But a champion is judged on how he gets up and how he moves forward,’ McCarthy told his club’s media department post-match.

McCarthy went on to hit back at his critics, who doubted that he would reach club president Sandile Zungu’s statement of making the top four at the end of the season.

‘And now we can go and see how everything else unfolds and who fights for No 3 and for No 4. There’s other vibe that Champions League football is coming to the KZN region and we are super proud. I’m proud of AmaZulu players, I’m proud of the technical staff, the guys that work with me and I’m proud of everyone who is associated with the club. We all deserve this and it’s not just me and the players and the team.

‘But now we want to enjoy the moment, I know there’s one more game to go but we are there. We’ve achieved the unthinkable. When I joined, the president said he wanted a top-four finish. People said he was crazy and when I joined people said I was overrated. I was fired from Cape Town City and that I was going to fail and that I’m not a good coach. So, I wonder now who’s the one laughing last. This is how a failure looks like,’ concluded McCarthy.