McCarthy, who plays for European champions Porto, is one of the five finalists for this prestigious African accolade.

“I might be a little biased but I think Benni stands a very good chance in view of the fact that FC Porto have won the European Champions League and the World Club Championship and he played a crucial role in these achievements. He scored vital goals in the Champions League and was always consistent,” said Motaung.

McCarthy became the first South African to win a European Champions League winner’s medal (following in the footsteps of 3-time African Player of the Year winner Abedi Pele) with Porto in 2004 and also won the Portuguese League Championship and Portuguese FA Cup winner’s medals.

More significantly, he was the top scorer in the Portuguese league in the 2003-2004 season (he also scored the Portuguese Goal of the Year) and is currently second on the Portuguese goal-scoring charts in the 2004-2005 season. His goals - against CSKA Moscow and Chelsea - secured Porto two key victories that earned the Portuguese side a place in the next round of this prestigious competition.

“Samuel Eto’o is obviously going to be his (McCarthy's) biggest threat and I think the two of them will be serious contenders for the title. But I will be crossing my fingers for Benni,” said Motaung.

Indeed, the Cape Town-born star will face tough competition from Barcelona’s Cameroonian striker Samuel Eto’o - the reigning African Footballer of the Year. Eto’o has done equally well in Spain but McCarthy could snatch the trophy on his performance in the Uefa Champions League and the World Club Championship.

Other finalists are Bolton Wanderers’ Nigerian midfield ace Austin “Jay-Jay” Okocha, Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba, who plays for English Premiership club Chelsea, and Togolese Emmanuel Adebayor, who plays for French club Monaco.

The list of the finalists will be forwarded to 53 national associations, who will vote for their final three before January 31. The winner will them be crowned in Durban on February 15.

Meanwhile, Motaung, whose club recently won their record third Coca-Cola Cup trophy, has conceded that Amakhosi face a testing challenge in the New Year as they try to balance the scales in the domestic league and the African Champions League.

“We have to face reality here because it’s going to be very tough. We have a backlog of fixtures to catch up with in the domestic league and the fact that we are defending league champions will add to the pressure,” he said.

Chiefs, who celebrate their 35th anniversary on January 7, resume their league action with a home tie against Santos on January 5. Amakhosi’s biggest threat in their quest for African glory and domestic dominance could well be the unavoidable fixture pile-up.

“You can see from the way Pirates are playing now that the title race is going to be very difficult. I think we are faced with a daunting task and a very difficult year because of the fixture backlog.

“We will go for the league and the Champions League but any one of them would still be a pricey achievement. Winning both would be a cherry on top," said Motaung.