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Benni McCarthy: New Manchester United role will 'inspire kids back home'

Benni McCarthyGetty Images

Benni McCarthy was on the touchline as Manchester United played Rayo Vallecano at Old Trafford on Sunday

By Mo Allie
BBC Sport Africa, South Africa

As a boyhood Manchester United fan, Benni McCarthy may not have fulfilled his dream of playing for his favourite club but he has now managed to secure a coaching job with the record 20-time English champions.

The former striker has been recruited by new manager Erik ten Hag to his first team coaching staff in a move that has sent South African social media s into a spin.

The appointment of the 44-year-old has been hailed as "massive" by McCarthy's former international team-mate Quinton Fortune, who himself played for United between 1999 and 2006.

"This will be an out-of-this-world experience for Benni," Fortune told BBC Sport Africa.

"This is so good because it will inspire the kids back home who can see one of their own now being part of the coaching staff at a club as big as Manchester United, who have a huge following in South Africa and across the world.

"It's a great move by the manager because Benni can speak Dutch, Portuguese and Spanish."

McCarthy had playing spells in the Premier League with Blackburn Rovers and West Ham United, scoring 37 goals in 120 outings between 2006 and 2010, and has since coached in Belgium and managed in his homeland.

Ten Hag was on the look-out for one more recruit to his backroom staff ahead of his first season with the Red Devils, and felt the former Ajax and Porto man had the right credentials for the job.

"There was still one place I wanted to fill, someone with a different voice, and Benni is that one," the Dutchman told MUTV.

"He has experience as a manager. He was a coach in the professional level and he was a former striker, a really successful striker as well."

Initial reports indicated that McCarthy had been brought in to work with the team's attackers but Ten Hag envisages a bigger role for the South African.

"He will focus on the positioning and attacking," he added.

"I'm not saying only the strikers, but also the integration from the full-backs and midfielders. Our way of play has to be dynamic."

Experience of winning in Europe

Benni McCarthy in action for PortoGetty Images

McCarthy was a Champions League winner with Porto in 2003-04

South Africa's all-time leading scorer with 31 goals in 80 appearances, McCarthy will now be part of United's reinvention under former Ajax boss Ten Hag.

The former Bafana Bafana star scored twice at Old Trafford for Porto in the 2003-04 Champions League knockout stages as the Portuguese club, managed by Jose Mourinho, went on to win the competition.

McCarthy became the first and only South African to claim a Champions League winner's medal.

"I Man United and always wanted to play for them," he once said. "I loved players like Mark Hughes, Andy Cole and Ryan Giggs."

Fortune first heard about McCarthy's possible move to his former club two weeks ago.

"The kit guy told me Benni was around. I was surprised and I immediately called Benni to ask 'What's going on">