Former Chelsea and England defender Wayne Bridge has opened up on the quality South African duo Steven Pienaar and Benni McCarthy brought to the Premier League.
Bridge played 18 seasons in the English top-flight, won the league during his time with the Blues and played 36 times for the senior England national team and would have faced up against the former Bafana Bafana stars plenty of times over his career.
In an interview made possible with 10Bet – the home of soccer betting – Bridge spoke candidly over various topics heading into the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup – but also made the time to reflect on the impact of Pienaar and McCarthy.
“Pienaar, I played against him quite a lot at Everton, and they had such a great squad, it was a real tough place to go, I remember when I was at Chelsea and you’re going there, you just know you’re in for a tough game, they had a great squad,” Bridge said.
The former Bafana captain spent nearly a decade in England, with Everton, Tottenham and Sunderland where he amassed 258 games, scoring 27 goals, and registering 46 assists.
While McCarthy may not have enjoyed the same longevity in the league, he made a huge impact during his time with Blackburn Rovers where he netted 52 goals, with nine assists in 140 games.
“He [Pienaar] was a really, really good player, he was a dangerous player, he was always switched on, technically gifted and he was definitely a difficult opponent but one player I liked was Benni,” he added.
“He just always played with a smile on his face, he was a really good player and I met him off the field a few times, really nice guy – but the thing I liked most is that you’d always see him with a smile on his face.”
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