Benni McCarthy is back and is determined to do what he does best for Bafana Bafana - score goals.
The Blackburn Rovers striker poured his heart out at a media briefing at the Rand Stadium on Tuesday prior to Bafana leaving for Port Elizabeth where they will meet World Cup qualifiers Japan in a friendly at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium at 3.30pm on Saturday
McCarthy said he was heartbroken when previous national coach Joel Santana had dropped him from the squad to play in the Confederations Cup in June. South Africa reached the semifinals in that tournament, regarded as a dress rehearsal for the 2010 World Cup.
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"I suffered a hamstring injury at that time. I was not playing regularly for Rovers so I thought that was the reason for Santana dropping me," McCarthy said. "However, the strange thing is that Santana would phone and chat to me on a regular basis. Maybe that was because I speak Portuguese but he never explained why he dropped me.
'I had a good relationship with Santana' "I was hurting as it was the first time a major Fifa tournament was played not just in South Africa but in Africa - but I had to carry on and hope to get another chance."
McCarthy, however, stressed he had never fallen out with Santana, who made a lot of bad mistakes during his 17 month reign as Bafana head coach.
"I had a good relationship with Santana. I accepted his decision to drop me."
But McCarthy was like a breath of fresh air on Tuesday and said he was grateful for the opportunity to be back in the Bafana squad. He also apologised to former SA Football Association vice president Mohamed Mubarak, with whom he had a major fallout after the African Nations Cup finals in Egypt in 2006.
Mubarak blamed McCarthy for the fact that Bafana crashed out in the first round of that tournament.
'I need only one touch to score' "I have matured. In the past I was loose cannon.
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