FRANCE 98 – General Media News Template

Crack South Africa striker Benni McCarthy threatened to quit the World Cup squad this week after a row over jersey numbers.

McCarthy, 20, best player and joint leading scorer at the 1998 African Nations Cup finals in Burkina Faso, has worn the No.17 shirt at various national levels. But when team manager Augusto Palacios was allocating numbers ahead of the midweek friendly against Zambia, he handed the No.17 jersey to Shaun Bartlett.

Former Peru World Cup player Palacios argued that Bartlett, a striker from Cape Town Spurs, had worn that number in the 1996 African Nations Cup-winning team.

The manager told McCarthy, who moved from Cape Town lower league club Seven Stars to Dutch giants Ajax Amsterdam last year, ”  he must fight for his jersey and prove himself ” .

McCarthy reacted angrily: “No man, Augusto, you are not being fair. You know I have always worn this jersey so it is only fair I get it. I am not wearing No.18, so please give me No.17.”  Palacios refused and only the intervention of South African Football Association president Molefi Oliphant and captain Lucas Radebe of English Premiership club Leeds United prevented Benni quitting. Bartlett agreed to wear the No.9 jersey, normally allocated to midfielder John Moeti, who will miss the finals in France next month due to a fractured ankle.

McCarthy, who shared boots with his elder brother as a child because his parents could not afford two pairs, came on as a second-half substitute against Zambia and performed poorly. Outsiders South Africa face France, Denmark and Saudi Arabia in Group C of the World Cup with their opening match against the hosts in the Mediterranean port city of Marseille on June 12.