Benni McCarthy - International Career

International Career

McCarthy made his full international debut in a friendly against the Netherlands on 4 June 1997.

Along with veteran Egyptian Striker Hossam Hassan, McCarthy was the joint top scorer in the 1998 African Cup of Nations in Burkina Faso with seven goals, including four in 13 minutes against Namibia.

The 1998 FIFA World Cup in France was the first time South Africa's national football team had reached the later stages of the competition and McCarthy (then at Ajax) was one of their key players. After a 3–0 defeat against future World Champions France, South Africa played their second game against Denmark. Trailing since the 13th minute, McCarthy tied the game at 1–1 in the 52nd minute and giving South Africa a chance for qualification. However, the third game also ended a draw (against Saudi Arabia), which left the South Africans in third place and eliminated from the competition.

The Korea/Japan World Cup saw history repeating for the South Africans. After a 2–2 draw against Paraguay and a 1–0 victory over the Slovenians, McCarthy's 30th minute equalizer in the last game against Spain was just not enough. South Africa eventually lost 3–2 and finished with another third place in the group stage.

There was often conflict over McCarthy's lack of participation in national team matches (whose interests often collide with his club's) and he actually retired from international games after the 2002 World Cup. However, he returned to the national team in 2004 and now holds the record of international goals for a South African. McCarthy scored in the second half of a 3–0 win against Paraguay in an international friendly. This strike eclipsed the previous record of 29 goals held by Shaun Bartlett.

Prior to the 2010 FIFA World Cup McCarthy announced his support for the Gun-Free World Cup campaign being run by International Action Network on Small Arms. He said: "This World Cup will be the biggest in football history and the fact that it is taking place in South Africa is a chance for us to show the world everything that is good about our country. It’s great that guns will be banned from stadiums – it’s going to be a fantastic party, and guns have no place in that."

After struggling with his fitness and facing criticism at home for being overweight, McCarthy was omitted from the final South African 23 man squad for the 2010 World Cup which was announced on 1 June 2010.