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The former Premier League striker Benni McCarthy has given a wide-ranging interview to the BBC. He’s the only South African to win the men’s Champions League – that was with Jose Mourinho’s Porto in 2004. He’s also his national team’s all-time top goal scorer and after a two year spell as a first-team coach at Manchester United he’s now in charge of 2027 men’s Africa Cup of Nations co-hosts Kenya.
BBC Newsday presenter, Isaac Fanin, explains to Ed Harry why McCarthy believes the club vs country row that affected his playing days still impacts African players today. McCarthy says Manchester United didn’t pursue a deal for Nigeria striker and 2023 African player of the year, Victor Osimhen, because they didn’t want to sign a player they would lose to Afcon for two months in the middle of a Premier League season. The Africa Cup of Nations is to switch from biennial to quadrennial in 2028. McCarthy believes the tournament should have retained its traditional schedule in order to give more exposure to talent on the continent, but that more should have been done to prevent the finals from clashing with club competitions.
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