Katlego Mphela Regrets Not Surpassing Benni McCarthy’s 31 Goal Record
South African football legend Katlego Mphela recently opened up about his career and the regret he feels for not surpassing the goal-scoring record of one of the country’s greatest footballers, Benni McCarthy.
Katlego Mphela during his time at Mamelodi Sundowns.
McCarthy, who is South Africa’s all-time highest scorer with 31 goals from 81 games, remains a benchmark for aspiring footballers.
Mphela, who had a chance to break McCarthy’s record, sheds light on the challenges he faced and the impact injuries had on his career.
Benni McCarthy is currently Bafana Bafana’s top goal scorer
Benni McCarthy stands tall with 31 goals, followed by Shaun Bartlett with 28 goals.
Katlego Mphela is in the third position with 23 goals from 53 encounters.
Mphela acknowledges that injuries played a significant role in preventing him from achieving the top spot.
Katlego Mphela speaks
In an interview with iDiski Times, Mphela expressed his regret, saying,
“Yeah, regret a bit because of the ratio of the goals I was scoring then.”
He pointed out the impact of injuries on his career and the challenges of maintaining form and fitness at both club and national levels.
Mphela believes injuries were the cause of him missing the record.
Mphela admitted that after the last Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) hosted by South Africa, he realized the difficulties he faced in surpassing McCarthy’s record due to his struggles with fitness.
Mphela explained:
“So it was a little bit difficult but yes I regret [not breaking it].”
Mphela’s reflection comes at a time when Bafana Bafana is grappling with a goal-scoring crisis, a concern that may affect their performance in the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations tournament.
With key forwards like Lyle Foster and Lebo Mothiba unavailable, the team faces additional challenges.The need for reliable goal-scorers is more critical than ever.
What’s next for Bafana Bafana
As South Africa seeks to address its goal-scoring issues, the spotlight turns to current Bafana Bafana player Percy Tau, whose name is among the all-time top goal-scorers with 15 goals.
However, Tau still has a considerable gap of 16 goals to catch up with Benni McCarthy.