The Citizens secured the 2018 MTN8 title after defeating SuperSport 4-1 on penalties at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.
City were on the losing end of a shoot-out in last season's final, but McCarthy feels the Dutchman made all the difference this time around.
“I saw this picture in my head. Again complete dominance. Utter dominance from my time, but we just couldn’t get it past Ronwen (Williams) and it looked like we are heading for exactly what happened last season," McCarthy told SuperSport.
“But the good thing is this season we have a quality keeper who specialises in these things. I think compared to last season where we didn’t have a man in the sticks to give us that advantage.
“I think these boys, I can go to the end of the earth with them. They will give me a heart attack soon. But they deserve it. They were magnificent.
McCarthy added that their self-perseverance is what kept them going for the entire 120 minutes through to the shootout.
“I wanted them to be brave, to believe in themselves. I see their qualities every day. I wanted them to believe in themselves and when it becomes difficult or impossible that’s when I wanted them to just push through the pain barriers and find that inner-self where they can play through the pain and its exactly what happened,” he said.