McCarthy: Reds got what they deserved

JUBILANT Porto striker Benni McCarthy has launched a scathing attack on Manchester United, accusing the Old Trafford outfit of “lacking respect”.

McCarthy and his team-mates were annoyed at the diving allegations made by Red Devils chief Alex Ferguson and were further incensed when Gary Neville claimed the Porto players rolled around like girls.

The resentment increased the celebrations within the Portuguese camp, with McCarthy quick to respond to the jibes.

“I wonder what they feel like being beaten by a team of girls,” said the South African striker, who followed up his two goals in the first leg by firing the last-minute free-kick that Tim Howard could only palm into Costinha’s path as Porto scored their 3-2 aggregate win on Tuesday night.

“Fair play and sportsmanship should still exist in football but Manchester United didn’t show us any respect at all.

“Everyone has their own opinion about certain things but you should keep them to yourself.

“You shouldn’t go out in public the way they did, calling our players girls and talking about diving for free-kicks.

“They wouldn’t even shake our hands in Porto and that is bad for football.

“Manchester United are the biggest side in the world and they should set the standards. Everyone looks up to them but if they don’t respect the opposition how can they expect the opposition to respect them.

“What goes around comes around and in the end they got what they deserved. We are through to the next round and they are out. I hope that will be a lesson to them.”

McCarthy admitted he thought his team were bowing out of the competition when the tie entered its final minute with Porto still requiring a goal to see them through. But the 26-year-old kept his nerve when he took the 25-yard free-kick after Phil Neville had fouled Edgar Jankauskas, and though McCarthy enjoyed good fortune when Howard failed to turn the ball away from his own goal, he felt it was deserved.

“Nobody gave us any credit for the fact we had beaten Manchester United in the first place and when we went a goal behind in the first half most people would have expected us to give in,” he said.

“But we didn’t. We came back and proved we could compete against one of the best sides in Europe.

“We won the UEFA Cup last season and now we have shown it wasn’t just luck.”