"Jomo ignored all that and restored my confidence," McCarthy said.
"He didn't just give the team hope. He made us believe that we can play well.
"The players responded brilliantly to him at the tournament," McCarthy said.
Despite their exit from the World Cup, McCarthy said South Africa's performance has shown they are a team that must be taken seriously.
"We have proved that we can play against the best teams in the world," McCarthy said.
Reflecting on the 2-3 loss to Spain, he said they failed to make the most of their opportunities.
"We knew it was going to be very difficult for us to keep a 1-1 scoreline, because Spain are such a good team.
"When we got the second goal, I thought we were in with a great chance as we were doing everything right.
"But we were lacking concentration at the back which eventually cost us the game."
McCarthy believes there are lots of positives to be taken from the World Cup experience.