Benni McCarthy Misses Out as Kaizer Chiefs Seal Deal With New Coach

Harambee Stars coach Benni McCarthy will have to wait a little longer to land his dream job in South Africa.

McCarthy has openly expressed his desire of coaching Kaizer Chiefs, a club he supported as a club, even though he enjoys cult status among bitter rivals Orlando Pirates fans.

A window of opportunity looked to have opened for McCarthy last week when Chiefs parted ways with co-coaches Cedric Kaze and Khalil Ben Youssef but on Monday, reports indicated that the Glamour Boys have settled on a foreign coach instead.

McCarthy and former Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane have been seen as local favourites for the Chiefs job but the club has opted to bring in Frenchman Fernando Da Cruz instead.

According to iDiski Times, Da Cruz and Chiefs are close to finalising a deal for him to take over and he will reportedly sign a two-year contract and come with four members of his technical bench with at least two South Africans set to join his coaching team.

Da Cruz was previously linked to Chiefs as an assistant to ex-coach Nasreddine Nabi but a deal did not materialise as the Tunisian tactician opted for other options when he joined the South African giants in July 2024.

Da Cruz has worked in Africa before, having served as the Technical Director of Moroccan side ASFAR, where he worked closely with Nabi, while the 54-year-old also worked at Belgian side Mouscron, first as an assistant and then as head coach, and also managed French side Lille B.

Chiefs finished third in the South Africa league to qualify for the CAF Confederation Cup and will hope that Da Cruz leads them to the continental title while closing the gap on Mamelodi Sundowns and newly-crowned champions Orlando Pirates.

It is yet another big job that McCarthy has seen slip away in South Africa after his ex-club Pirates overlooked him for Moroccan Abdeslam Ouaddou last year when Spanish tactician Jose Riveiro left.