Benni McCarthy had a word of sympathy for his SuperSport United counterpart Kaitano Tembo after winning his maiden trophy at the weekend at the expense of the former Zimbabwe international defender.

McCarthy’s first title as a coach‚ the MTN8 title‚ came exactly a year after losing the selfsame trophy when in charge of his first cup final in 2017.

He said he knows exactly how Tembo must be feeling after going down in his maiden final as coach.

“It’s tough‚ I can tell you what I went through last season as a first time head coach‚" he said.

"You think there is big opportunity there but when it doesn’t happen‚ and you lose in the manner in which we did like a lottery ticket‚ it haunts you for a little bit.

“But I think he (Tembo) can come back stronger because he’s got great players.

"You know‚ you can see that the players have taken to him and these guys are willing to go the extra mile for him and I think he’s got something special there‚ so he must just keep going.”

But McCarthy hastily added:“But not that I’m an expert now that I’ve won a cup!

"It doesn’t mean I can give expert advice but I was in the same situation last season and I could have also put my head down and said ‘Ah‚ that’s it‚ best chance I could have had as a coach’ but I went back and I fought and I learnt more about myself; where I made mistakes and how I can get better.”

Tembo and McCarthy share in common the fact they played at Seven Stars in Cape Town‚ albeit not at the same time‚ and that they both took their clubs to the MTN8 finals just a few months into their tenure as head coach.

McCarthy says one title has given him a taste for more.

“Now I want to continue winning!”