Benni McCarthy sends a glowing message of admiration to a South African player

A striker from South Africa catches the attention of the South African coach.

Africa Today at 01:28

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Benni McCarthy sends a glowing message of admiration to a South African player

Benni McCarthy holds the distinction of being South Africa's top scorer in international football, having found the net 31 times for his country. By contrast, Foster has managed 10 goals at international level so far. McCarthy, who now coaches Kenya, is hopeful that Foster will eventually take over from him as the nation's record marksman.

The former striker offered his perspective following Friday night's 2-2 stalemate between Kenya and Bafana Bafana in their CAF 2027 AFCON qualifying match, which took place at the Orlando Amstel Arena in Soweto.

High praise from Ben McCarthy for Foster

McCarthy reckons Foster has a real test ahead of him, suggesting that the way football has evolved tactically has made the striker's job of scoring considerably harder. The Kenya coach singled out the now-widespread reliance on inverted wingers, contending that today's forwards are no longer fed the same calibre of crosses that served attackers well in his own playing days.

"Well, listen, it's not just in South Africa, it's a worldwide thing because when you look at modern-day football, now most teams play inverted wingers," McCarthy told journalists.

"So you don't get crosses anymore, putting it near post for strikers to make that near-post run. It's difficult when you play a left-footer on the right, or a right-footer playing on the left.

"So where are the crosses going to come from? The strikers keep making movements. Back in my days, we had Delron Buckley, for example; he was a left-footer.

"Myself, Shaun Bartlett, and Sibusiso Zuma, we had to make sure, you know, when the ball is on the left foot, one goes near post, one goes second post. Wherever that ball lands, one of us is going to get it."

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