West Ham United Football Club News

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• Founded:1895
• Manager:Sam Allardyce

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McCarthy axed by South Africa

01 Jun 2010 - 10:01:45

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West Ham United's Benni McCarthy has been left out of South Africa's World Cup squad.

South Africa's all-time leading scorer has been criticised for his lack of fitness in the build-up to the finals and coach Carlos Alberto Parreira has left the 32-year-old out of his final 23-man squad.

Parreira revealed his decision to snub McCarthy after leaving the 78-times capped striker out of the side that thrashed Guatemala 5-0 in a warm-up match on Monday.

Three other Premier League-based players in Aaron Mokoena, Kagisho Dikgacoi and Steven Pienaar have all made Parreira's final squad.

"There's nothing wrong with him (Benni), we know all the players we need by now," he said after the warm-up victory.

"It's a daily assessment and we're not going to judge a player on one match.

"They all know that the decision is coming and I would say that everyone deserves to be in the squad but, unfortunately, that cannot happen."