Benni McCarthy

Benni McCarthy

McCarthy at West Ham, May 2010
Personal information
Full name	Benedict Saul McCarthy
Date of birth	(1977-11-12) 12 November 1977 (age 39)
Place of birth	Cape Town, South Africa
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position	Striker
Youth career
	Young Pirates
	Crusaders
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1995–1997	Seven Stars	56	(38)
1997–1999	Ajax	36	(20)
1999–2003	Celta Vigo	66	(10)
2002	→ Porto (loan)	11	(12)
2003–2006	Porto	74	(34)
2006–2010	Blackburn Rovers	109	(37)
2010–2011	West Ham United	11	(0)
2011–2013	Orlando Pirates	24	(10)
Total		387	(161)
National team
–	South Africa U-23	13
1997–2012	South Africa	80	(32)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Benedict Saul "Benni" McCarthy (born 12 November 1977) is a South African former footballer who was last contracted to Orlando Pirates in South Africa.

McCarthy holds the record of international goals for a South African. He is Bafana Bafana's all-time top-scorer with 32 goals.

McCarthy was born in Cape Town and grew up in Hanover Park on the Cape Flats, an area notorious for its high unemployment rate and gang violence. He is the son of Dudley and Dora McCarthy and has two brothers and a sister. His older brother is Jerome McCarthy, a former professional footballer who played for Kaizer Chiefs and Manning Rangers among other clubs,while his younger brother Mark played football at Franklin Pierce University in the United States.

McCarthy started playing at a local side called Young Pirates which was managed by his uncles. He then joined the youth structures of a local amateur club called Crusaders. At age 17, he was signed by 1st division club Seven Stars. He is managed by ExtraTime S.L.

Playing for Seven Stars, the 18-year-old McCarthy scored 1 goal in 29 games in the 1995–96 season, followed by another 12 goals in 20 matches, which earned him a transfer to Cape Town Spurs which two years later merged with Seven Stars to form Ajax Amsterdam feeder team Ajax Cape Town.

In 1997, after an impressive showing at the African Youth Championship and FIFA World Youth Championship in Malaysia, he joined the Dutch side, where he scored 9 goals and was crowned champion in his first season. After a relatively successful 1998–99 season he was sold to Spanish side Celta Vigo for a sum reported to be over €6m, at the time the most expensive transfer for a South African player.