McCarthy not shy to take Champions League notes from Sundowns

Benni McCarthy has got all the experience of playing at the highest level, especially where club football is concerned as he won the 2004 Uefa Champions League with Porto under the tutelage of Jose Mourinho.

ALSO READ: McCarthy pleased with his charges despite loss to Sundowns

But what he does not have is the experience of coaching at Champions League level, which is why he will take his phone, call his mates and make some notes as he prepares Usuthu to enter the so-called African jungle.  

McCarthy says he has some close relations with coaches who have Champions League coaching experience, one being Mamelodi Sundowns’ senior coach, Steve Komphela, who was seen exchanging some pleasantries with McCarthy during and after the DStv Premiership clash on Friday night, which Sundowns won 1-0.    

Usuthu will make their maiden appearance in the continent’s premium club competition after they finished second last season, becoming the first team from KwaZulu-Natal to enter the competition.  

“I have a very good relationship with coaches who have managed teams that played in the Champions League. [I’d ask them] just to get perspective on the recovery processes and how they manage their squads… we’ll have conversations.

“I have a good relationship with coach Steve, he is only a phone call away for me to ask him, it does not hurt to ask someone who has been there in that situation and who has been there and done that. We share information because at the end of the day when we go to the continent, we are not just representing AmaZulu, we represent South Africa and we have to support each other. They [Sundowns] know better than us about the process of juggling the league and the Champions and if there is some knowledge that we can gain from that, why not,” said McCarthy.

The AmaZulu mentor reviewed the loss to Sundownss, but was not too harsh to his players, crowing them for their efforts as he believes a draw would have been a fair result.

“When you are one-nil down against Sundowns, it always becomes an uphill battle because you are chasing and struggling to get that equalizer which makes you vulnerable at the back and it leaves gaps to get into and with the kind of players that they have , they will punish you for real. We had to take a little bit of a cautious approach but overall, a draw would have been fair,” said McCarthy.