Cape Town - Cape Town City coach Benni McCarthy was caught on camera mouthing out what appeared to be a widespread Cape Flats expletive to an Ajax player as he charged out of his technical area at Cape Town Stadium.
The Bafana Bafana legend explained that his controversial reaction was directed at Isaac Nhlapo who fouled his player Teko Modise during City’s 2-0 win.
Video clips of the incident have gone viral on social media and people have begun referring to the phrase as “a Benni McCarthy”.
The Champions League winner has since admitted he didn’t set a good example, but claims he was provoked.
Benni says: “There were a couple of nasty incidents where I think I also overreacted a bit.
“But I’m one of those guys; I always say a team is a reflection of its manager. I’m a passionate guy from Cape Town, and if people want to bully my players, I’m the first one to stand up for them.”
Benni explains that he was concerned about Teko’s fitness. The midfielder had just come back from injury and the boss wanted to have him available for the October 14 MTN8 final against SuperSport United.
The 39-year-old adds: “It was just the emotions of the game - sometimes it happens. But I was just concerned about my player as he had just come back from injury and I know how hard he had worked to get back on the pitch.
“And for someone to just snap at him out of anger, and risk him not playing in the upcoming MTN8 final would mean I would be stuck with a problem of losing a key player, so that is why I reacted the way I did.”
INCIDENT: Benni McCarthy, Cape Town City coach lets rip at Ajax's Isaac Nhlapo during iKapa derby
This article was originally published by the Daily Voice