Benni McCarthy eyes Porto return

McCarthy has been unemployed since being sacked as Cape Town City head coach last year, with any potential job also put on hold by the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent postponement of football in most leagues across the globe.

“My agent Rob (Moore) has been putting out feelers to see what is out there for me and there is something interesting that came up, but during these crazy times you can’t react to what is happening,” said McCarthy on Tuesday in an interview with the South African Football Journalists Association (SAFJA).

“In Portugal, we spoke to an old teammate of mine (Andre Vilas Boas, but not the former Chelsea and Tottenham coach), who is still a couple of years younger than me and is now a sporting director at Rio Aves. My agent was with him and he gave him a few good tips on what to do and what might be on the horizon .. once the dust settles I will definitely be following that up. Portugal is a place I know exceptionally well and where I am very much loved.

“FC Porto (where McCarthy won the Uefa Champions League in 2004) have also got elections coming up, Jorge Da Costa is looking to extend his stay as president, he has been there 38 years, and is bringing in Victor Baia (a Porto goalkeeping legend) as Vice President.

“Baia did mention recruiting players from the 2003/4 season, from our generation, to go into the academy with the mindset that those players had. I had a conversation with him (Baia) but once the elections are over and we know who has one … decisions will be made on that. I am keeping my fingers crossed that Baia is elected, it might be a good start for me in Europe through a club I know well. I am also familiar with the manager there (Sergio Conceicao), who is also a former teammate of mine.”

McCarthy is currently living in Edinburgh with his family and was interviewed in December for the head coach job at local side Hearts, though that eventually went to German Daniel Stendel.

Hearts finished the season bottom of the Scottish Premier League, though it remains to be seen if they will be relegated, with the season curtailed early in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Stendel’s future is also up in the air, and McCarthy says he is “monitoring” the situation.

“It is a club that is literally down the road from where I live, it would be ideal to stay close to my family.

“A return to South Africa is not off the table, but it must be the right club,” added McCarthy.

“It must be a project where I am able to work with people taking the club forward, that have the same goals as me, the same ambition on where they want to see the club go.”

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