‘It was the most nerve-racking game of my life’ – Benni

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Benni McCarthy admits that he thought Cape Town City would lose the penalty shootout in the MTN8 final against SuperSport United.

Peter Leeuwenburgh emerged as the hero after saving spot-kicks from Bradley Grobler and Reneilwe Letsholoyonyane to ensure that City lifted their first piece of silverware under coach McCarthy.

Having lost the 2017 version of the final to the same opponents via penalties, McCarthy revealed that the clash at the Moses Mabhida Stadium made him extremely anxious.

‘It was the most nerve-racking football match that I’ve endured‚’ McCarthy said in post-match comments.

‘I think last season was tough but this one was worse because as much as we were trying to be positive and keep the guys energised and constantly telling them to believe, I don’t think any of us [on the bench] believed ourselves because of what happened last season.

‘By the looks of it‚ SuperSport seem pretty comfortable with taking us to penalties and relying on Ronwen Williams to win them the cup‚’ he said.

‘We all know he is a specialist in these things [shootouts] and rightfully so; he’s one of the top goalkeepers we have in the country.

‘I was fearing we would go to penalties and to be honest‚ I thought: “Nah‚ if it’s penalties‚ we lose.”

‘But now we have Peter Leeuwenburgh in goal and that gave us the edge,’ he concluded.

Photo: Gallo Images

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Marshall Gouts