Benni McCarthy believes the Cape Town Stadium field will ensure a far more equal contest when Cape Town City host Bidvest Wits in a MTN8 first leg semi-final on Sunday afternoon (3.30pm).
The Cape side defeated the Clever Boys 1-0 in a league fixture last week, but were second-best for most of the 90 minutes.
The fact that they managed to pull off the win was mainly due to their trademark fighting spirit and absolute commitment to the cause.
Wits threw everything at them, but couldn’t break them down.
This time, at the former 2010 World Cup venue in Green Point, McCarthy is expecting things to be much different.
“The pitch will be a major factor,” said the 39-year-old former Bafana Bafana striker.
“At Wits’ home ground in Johannesburg, it’s a bit like a matchbox. They know the conditions, they know how to play there, and they suffocate the opposition. Last week, I thought we did very well to come away with the three points.
“Now, here in Cape Town, the pitch is twice as big and it’s a carpet. There will be a lot more football played.
“But we know what we are up against… If my men are ready to fight, and ready to go to war, we can get it done – and I’m pretty confident.”
City have won three games on the trot, but if there’s an area where McCarthy would love to see more improvement, it’s in attack.
“Goals win games, and I want us to score more,” he said. “We work hard as a team and our attitude that team work makes the dream work is always good, but we need to be more ruthless in front of goal.”
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