Bafana Bafana legend Benni McCarthy has revealed that he was close to joining Soweto giants Orlando Pirates as a coach before a last-minute U-turn by club boss Irvin Khoza.
McCarthy is back in South Africa as an ambassador for the Carling Cup set to take place on 21 December.
He recently parted ways with Manchester United, where he was striker coach for the past two seasons. The 47-year-old had a stint at the Buccaneers between 2011 and 2013.
Speaking on Radio 2000 Sport Show, Game On, McCarthy confirmed that there were talks to take over the reins at Pirates before, but the move collapsed after a U-turn by club boss Irvin Khoza.
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“There was [a chance] once upon a time, way before Jose Riveiro came to Pirates,” said McCarthy.
“I think it was the Swedish coach [Kjell Jonevret]. I did speak with the chairman [Dr Irvin Khoza]. It was almost a done deal; it was kind of me going back to coach the Orlando Pirates. But I think the Chairman at the last minute decided to go for someone with more experience because, like I said, I didn’t have a lot of coaching experience.
“But I think I would have done an amazing job because of the players Pirates had at the time. Not even Sundowns could have come close. But Sundowns had coach Pitso then and were able to achieve everything they have done because they were coached properly by a proper coach,” he added.
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“If I was given that opportunity with that Pirates team, I think there would have been fireworks. But that was the closest I came to coaching Pirates and after that, it was just always rumours.
“People were connecting me to coaching Pirates and Chiefs. When there is a vacancy my name gets thrown in, but I think it was also to attract other coaches when it looked like Benni McCarthy is close to signing for one of those two teams.”
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