The former Bafana Bafana striker speaks for the first time what led to his massive outburst with Matsatsantsa coach
AmaZulu coach Benni McCarthy has come out for the first time to reveal what transpired during his spat with SuperSport United coach Kaitano Tembo.
The two coaches were caught on camera exchanging words, during their Premier Soccer League match fixture which ended in a 0-0 draw on September 14 at Jonsson Kings Park Stadium.
Though the camera did not capture what Tembo told McCarthy, the former Bafana Bafana strikers’ exchange of words was captured well and he has now lifted the lid on why he reacted emotionally after what he was told.
What did McCarthy say?
“All I did was, the SuperSport bench was putting a lot of pressure on the referee, and then obviously when the rules were reversed, when we started doing it, we were told to f-off and sit down and blablabla,” he told Thomas Mlambo on the Ultimate Sport Show as quoted by Idiskitimes.
“And that’s when I said to the opposition coach, I said ‘coach, you can’t ask us to sit down and then you guys do the same and you pressure the referee so every decision that goes your way and we must just sit back. So now we’re also going to pressure’.
“Then I was told to ‘shut up, ’shut up, you f-ing c***’. And that was for me, that was the ultimate. If someone calls me a c*** which I’m definitely not and I know I shouldn’t engage on that but I won’t say that.
“So if someone calls me that then of course now you’re not just going about the football, now you’re attacking the individual and that is me.”
McCarthy believes he had every right to stand up defend himself and that is the reason he opted to respond.
“So of course I had every single right to stand up for myself and that’s exactly what I did, stand up for myself because I’m no wimp, I ain’t getting bullied by a coach or anyone else,” McCarthy continued.
“And people that know me, that that is the mother of all mothers. I’ll never do anyone wrong if you don’t do me wrong. Because I stand up for myself, now I’m made out to be the villain and I’m the bad guy, I’m this…and the person that started this whole saga, that is the person that is in the light, that looks like ‘oh what a fantastic guy, what a marvellous coach, what an example’.
'You ain't no example!'
“What example? You ain’t no example if you can call someone what I’ve been called. Then I lose it and I don’t care if I lose the respect from people because I stand up for myself but I never-ever change, and people mustn’t tell me that I’m better than that, that I must be the bigger person because I had been the bigger person all the time but you spit on, you get stumped on, but when you stand up for yourself you get respected that way.
“If I worry about what everyone else says or what everyone else thinks of me, I would have never achieved anything in my life because I’m too worried about what ‘good people’ are talking about me, I couldn’t care less about what people say about me.
“I’m true to myself and I know who I am and I know what my purpose is. My purpose is to succeed for my team and I must be an example for my team.
“I ain’t going to stand for somebody calling me out and then they get to look like they are the heroes, they are the white knight with shining armour, not under my watch.”
Usuthu finished the game with 10 men after defender Tercious Malepe was sent to the showers in the 74th minute.