Benni convinced he has winning formula

And finding fault with his thinking is difficult considering what he achieved as a player. He remains the only player from southern Africa to win the Uefa Champions League, a feat he achieved with FC Porto. He also has a host of medals, including the ones from his treble- winning streak with Orlando Pirates, just before his retirement from playing.

“Effort and heart,” said McCarthy, when asked what he thought takes to win a cup final this week as he prepared his team for a titanic battle for the R8 million prize money against SuperSport United.

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McCarthy said he has been telling his players that the team who makes the least mistakes on the night will likely be crowned champions.

“We trained hard and tried not to think too much about the final,” said McCarthy. “In the end we have to continue with what we do. Play well and work as hard as we can and not make it easy for the opposition.

Without giving much away, the former Bafana Bafana striker said he had done his homework and he knows they have a fight on their hands.

“They are disciplined. Eric’s organisation is very good. That makes them difficult. But we have played teams who were as good or even better. We learnt from the Wits games because they are almost similar. If we are as focused as we were against Wits we will be fine,” he added.

McCarthy has lost just twice in nine games, with the blemish in his record being league defeats to Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates. He said all his players have been buzzing at training and he now has the hard task of selecting the match-day squad and the starting team.

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