Benni McCarthy: Raja Casablanca lessons will help us against Horoya

Benni McCarthy believes the lesson AmaZulu FC learnt in their opening Group B match in a Caf Champions League away tie against Raja Casablanca last week will come in handy when they face Horoya AC in their second group game at the Moses Mabhida Stadium at 9pm on Friday.

Usuthu lost 1-0 to Raja after allowing Mohsine Moutaouali to burst into the area and take a low shot that crept in between the legs of goalkeeper Veli Mothwa and hit the net in the 67th minute.

McCarthy praised his charges for the way they resisted the pressure Raja put on them in what was Usuthu’s first ever match in the group phase of this competition. 

The Usuthu coach said he was expecting an equally tough encounter against the Guinean side which is making its 12th appearance in the Champions League and has qualified for the group stages four times in  the past five editions.

“It was a great lesson and first experience and now we face a different challenge,” said McCarthy of their match against Horoya in Durban on Thursday. “Horoya are probably more physical than Raja Casablanca with the players that they’ve got. But our strength will be to play our game and we’ll make it difficult for any team.

“TP Mazembe came here (Durban) and they found out what AmaZulu were all about. If we can be ourselves we stand a chance to compete against Horoya with the strengths that they have. We have to play to our strength and our strength is getting the ball moving, movements off the ball and if we do that we’ll be OK.”

Horoya, who have played six group matches against three SA sides — Mamelodi Sundowns, Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs — and only suffered one defeat in SA against Pirates in 2018, will be looking to bounce back after their shock 1-0 defeat to Algeria’s ES Setif in their opening match last Saturday.

But McCarthy insisted that the lesson picked up in the Raja match will help in offsetting their visitors.

“As I said earlier, last week’s match was a phenomenal experience for the boys just to see the level that they need to raise their game to,” he said.

“But we didn’t look out of place at all, and the lesson that we learnt from that game is that we do need to raise our level a little bit because the speed, the physicality and the technicality is a little different from what we face in the PSL (Premier Soccer League).

“We need to add one aspect to our game, and that is to be more clinical in front of goal because sometimes you only have one chance. At the level that we are in SA, we don’t have players with that killing instinct, where you get that one opportunity and you stick it into the back of the net.”

McCarthy felt that they could have come back with a draw in Morocco last week if they'd taken their chances and he will be expecting a better performance from his side on Friday.

“We left our opposition off the hook one too many times and we paid the price. That’s what I’ve taken from the loss against Raja.

“We just need to be a little clinical in front of the goals because Raja created two chances, in one they scored and in the other Veli (Mothwa) made a fantastic save.

“We got two equally good chances to score. We hit the post and missed the target. So being clinical will be the biggest thing that I can take in the loss against Raja.”

Despite the loss, McCarthy said it was too early to throw in the towel and said he’s got confidence they can still force their way into the last eight, especially if they can win their back-to-back home games against Horoya on Friday and Setif on February 25.

“Every team in this group has equal opportunity to qualify (for the last eight). Yes, it will be amazing to get your opening game on the winning side because it eases the pressure a little bit and allows the rest of the other guys to fight.

“But we now have back-to-back home games and we’ve learnt that we’ll throw a game away if we’re not physical enough.”