Benni McCarthy

AmaZulu have rubbished reports of a shock exit for coach Benni McCarthy, calling it ‘fake news’.

Benni McCarthy reveals TP Mazembe’s ‘dirty tricks’ against AmaZulu

AmaZulu coach Benni McCarthy has revealed that TP Mazembe tried to play dirty on the eve of their CAF Champions League clash in Lubumbashi on Saturday.

Benni McCarthy

AmaZulu have rubbished reports of a shock exit for coach Benni McCarthy, calling it ‘fake news’.

AmaZulu coach Benni McCarthy has revealed that TP Mazembe tried to play dirty on the eve of their CAF Champions League clash in Lubumbashi on Saturday.

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Usuthu knocked TP Mazembe out of the competition with an away goal rule after the two sides played to a 1-1 aggregate draw to secure their place in the group stages.

And McCarthy admits this was a big victory for AmaZulu as they showed character to want to beat Mazembe.

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According to McCarthy, Mazembe targeted AmaZulu defender Tapelo Xoki as they tried every trick to get him ruled out of the match.

Before the game, the players conducted a mandatory Covid-19 test, but Mazembe raised objections with Xoki saying his results were positive even though they had come out negative.

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On matchday, AmaZulu and Mazembe took Xoki to the same laboratory for a special Covid-19 test, and the visitors’ results came back negative while the home side got a positive result on the Usuthu defender.

And the battle to get Xoki on the pitch went on until after AmaZulu launched an official complaint, and Mazembe eventually allowed the 26-year-old to play, and this was 10 minutes before kick-off, McCarthy said.

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“They (AmaZulu players) showed character. I saw personality. I saw arrogance and I saw a football team; a group of players that are not afraid of anything,” McCarthy told Usuthu’s media team.

“Especially what we had on the eve of the game, where we had negative Covid-19 tests since arriving here,” he said.

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“And on the eve of the game, they targeted one of the most important defenders, Xoki,” revealed McCarthy.

“On the day of the game, we took them to the same lab and the test came back negative twice, but on their side, it says it was positive and then we launched a complaint, then they allowed him 10 minutes before kick-off to say, ‘he can play now’,” added McCarthy.

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