Former Bafana Bafana captain Aaron ‘Mbazo’ Mokoena has dropped a bombshell on the reason Carlos Alberto Parreira dropped Benni McCarthy from his 2010 World Cup team.
The former Porto and Blackburn Rovers striker was snubbed from the 23-man final squad which surprised millions of fans.
Parreria, who had won the World Cup before with Brazil before 2010, decided to instead bring along Bernard Parker, Katlego Mphela and Siyabonga Nomvethe as his strikers. Bafana were eliminated in the group stages, becoming the first host nation to fail to reach the next round of the WC.
Mokoena, who captained Bafana in 2010, called Parreira one of the best coaches the country has ever had.
Parreira stuck to his principle by leaving Benni, says Mbazo
“I think for me, Carlos was one of the best managers, Pitso Mosimane can attest to that,” he told iDiski Times journalist Lorenz Köhler on the 10bet BetterPod podcast.
“He was one of the best managers that South Africa ever had.
“That guy actually will tell you that if you’re above 11% fat percentage, you don’t play for instance. He believed that once you lean, you can be able to play in the World Cup.”
Mbazo said McCarthy missed out on 2010 because Parreira had stuck to his principles regarding the weight issue.
“What he did first, he called myself and Benni in the room to tell him that,” Mokoena said.
“Not even actually, before then he gave Benni the programmes to help him actually to lose a bit of weight. And the last day that he had, maybe two days before he had to announce the squad, then he called me and Benni and he told Benni he won’t take him in the squad.
“And he even said that you’re the best striker in South Africa., but my principles are my principles. I believe that you’re overweight, to be part of the squad, so that’s how actually he told Benni,” Mbazo on why Parreira dropped McCarthy.
After the World Cup, Mokoena only played a handful of games before he was dropped for good. He ended his international career with 107 caps.
McCarthy on the otherhand, went to represent Bafana again in 2012 before retiring from football the next year.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ARTICLES BY ELIOT MAHLASE
[…] source https://www.soccer2day.co.za/2024/04/04/mbazo-reveals-why-parreira-dropped-benni-for-the-2010-world-… […]