Benni McCarthy shares how ability to speak five languages made him successful at Man United

Published on by Joel Oliver

Bafana Bafana legend Benni McCarthy has revealed how his ability to speak many languages was of great help to him during his spell at Manchester United.

McCarthy worked at United as the club’s attacking coach from 2022 to 2024 and worked in a multicultural dressing room with players coming from various nationalities and speaking different languages.

However, being multilingual came in handy as he could break the language barrier and easily pass on his message given he is fluent in English, Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish and Afrikaans.

How did speaking many languages help Benni?

“It was easy because I was able to communicate with every single player in the squad,” McCarthy told On The Whitles Podcast.

“I could speak a language that if there was Portuguese, Brazilians in the squad so I could talk Portuguese, then we had [Lisandro] Martinez and David de Gea with Spanish, [Fecundo] Pellestri so I could communicate with Spaniards. Wout Weghorst, Tyrell Malacia in Dutch and of course English.”

South Africa’s all-time scorer also disclosed that players found it easy to open up to him since he could speak their language which helped him understand their true characters and whatever issues they were dealing with.

Benni McCarthy 2

Bafana legend got United players to open up to him

“There was no Afrikaans but it was a massive help that I was able to speak all these languages. Communicate freely with the players in their own language and they could kind of open up to you more often,” he added.

McCarthy is well grounded in different cultures and languages due to his storied career that took him to FC Porto in Portugal, Ajax Amsterdam in the Netherlands and Celta Viga in Spain as well as in the Premier League with Blackburn Rovers and West Ham.

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Joel Oliver

Joel Oliver is a seasoned multimedia sports journalist with a rich background in covering diverse football stories and events in South Africa and beyond.
His extensive coverage spans subjects touching on the PSL, with a focus on the Big Three (Orlando Pirates, Kaizer Chiefs & Mamelodi Sundowns), Bafana Bafana and Banyana Banyana.