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cleanup-date|August 2005

Benedict Saul McCarthy, known as Benni McCarthy,
born 12 November 1977 in Cape Town, South Africa
is a professional soccer|footballer, currently
playing for Portugal|Portuguese side FC Porto and
the South Africa national football team.

==Road to Amsterdam==
Playing for Seven Stars, the 18-year old McCarthy
scored 27 goals in 29 games in the 1995/1996|96
season, followed by another 12 goals in 20
matches, which earned him a transfer to Ajax
Amsterdam farm team Ajax Cape Town. In 1997, he
finally joined the Netherlands|Dutch side, where
he scored 9 goals and was crowned champion. After
a also successful 1998/1999|99 season he was sold
to Spain|Spanish side Celta Vigo for a sum
reported to be over euro|€6M, at the time the
most expensive transfer for a South African
player.
==Spain==
Although regarded as one of the best African
players of the moment, McCarthy never established
himself as a regular choice for Celtas' manager,
Víctor Fernández. After two poor seasons, in the
2001-2002|02 season he was loaned to struggling FC
Porto where he would meet newly appointed coach
José Mourinho, and a team more near the
off-europe places than the championship race, but
before turning into a regular choice he would have
to play in the 2002 African Nations Cup. He was
the main force behind Porto's recovery to get a
third place which would take them to the UEFA Cup,
and scored an impressive 12 goals on only 10
matches, but Porto's finances did not allow them
to keep the player, despite the desire of both
sides to continue.

In 2002-2003|03 he did no better than be an
optional striker, while seeing Porto capture both
the title, cup and the UEFA Cup he helped the team
qualify for. As former teammate HĂ©lder Postiga
was sold to England, Porto had the funds to
actually sign the South African for a €3.5 M
sum.

==Porto==
At his return, he did not only found the highest
club morale in years, but also a highly organized
team with some of the best Portuguese players.
Although he managed to grab the golden boot award
(with 20 goals in 23 games) at the final day with
a terrific hat-trick which included an overhead
kick that was considered one of the best 2004
goals by Eurosport, he made his mark on the
Champions League, where he played a major part in
the matches against Manchester United - not only
he scored both goals in the Estádio do Dragão
european debut, but also the free kick that Tim
Howard fluked to Costinha, who would score a
last-minutes equaliser that knocked the english
giant outside the competition. Porto ended up
being the unlikely winners of one of the most
surprising runs of the competition, with none of
the favourites reaching the final four.


As Mourinho left and was (shortly) replaced by
Italy|Italian coach Luigi Del Neri, McCarthy
thought of leaving for the Premier League, but the
two years left in his contract remained a problem.
When the Italian was fired and replaced by his
former Celta coach Fernandez (who he said he'd
rather quit playing than be coached again) he
tried to pressure Porto to sell him to Everton
F.C., who had sold Wayne Rooney to Manchester
United and needed a replacement. Porto refused,
and the tension  between both seemingly vanished
as Fernandez praised McCarthy as a world class
striker. He would be crucial again as he scored
the victory goal against former team mates and
manager now in Chelsea F.C. in the qualifying
stage of the Champions League. With his goal,
Porto became second in the group; even a draw
would place Porto in the final position.

==National Team==
The 1998 Football World Cup in France was the
debut of South Africa's national football team,
and McCarthy (then on Ajax) was presented as one
of the key players. After a no-chance 3-0 loss
against future World Champions France national
football team|France, South Africa played their
second game agains Denmark national football
team|Denmark. Trailing since the 13th
minute, McCarthy tied the game 1-1 at the passage
of the 52nd minute, scoring the first
goal of the South African national team on a final
stage and giving a chance for qualification.
However, the third game also resulted on a draw
(against Saudi Arabia national football team|Saudi
Arabia), which left the South Africans in third
place and outside the competition.

In the 2002 Football World Cup|Korea/Japan World
Cup he saw history repeating. After a 2-goal draw
against Paraguay national football team|Paraguay,
followed by a 1-0 win over the Slovenia national
football team|Slovenians, in the last game against
Spain national football team|Spain his
30th minute equalizer was not enough,
and the 2-3 defeat meant another third place in
the group stage.

Although there was much conflict over his
participation in national team matches (whose
interests often collide with the clubs'), and
actually left after the 2002 World Cup, he
returned to the national team in 2004.