Sunday | June 27, 2021
Kaizer Chiefs are one game away from being crowned the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Champions League (CL) kings.
On Saturday, Chiefs qualified for CL final after overcoming the forceful Wydad Athletic Club (WAC) of Morocco by 1-0 aggregate score. Kaizer Chiefs secured their only goal of the double-legged semi-final away on the horn of Africa.
The Moroccans could not overturn the score to their favour on June 26 in Johannesburg, the home of Chiefs. The management of Wydad pulled all stops to motivate their troops to beat Chiefs but the ultimate outcome was a nasty surprise. From a fair pedestal, pundits did not give Chiefs a chance. Them too, were and are still shell-shocked in how it all happened – for Kaizer to go all the way to the CAF CL final – given their ambivalent season back home.
Nevertheless, should Amakhosi, Chiefs’ beloved name, go all the way to clinch the highest prized trophy in African continent, they will become the 3rd South African team to do so. Orlando Pirates Football Club(FC) started this African success in 1995. The 2nd milestone was recorded by Mamelodi Sundowns FC in 2016. Chiefs have a huge opportunity to make it a hat-trick for South Africa.
There is little doubt that Kaizer Chiefs defied all odds to reach the Champions League final after their disappointments over half a decade in domestic tournaments. To make matters worse, they got rid of a highly experienced Gavin Hunt before the start of the semi-finals. From then on, his assistants – Arthur Zwane and Dell on Sheppard – took over on interim bases. In highsight, others may argue that the Hunt sacking was a blessing in disguise.
Even so, there is very little to gauge how Zwane and Sheppard turned things around given their short stint; or how much of this African rise can be attributed to Hunt’s almost season-long slog at Chiefs.
Granted, Kaizer Chiefs have to face yet another indomitable Northern giant, Al Ahly Sporting Club (SC) of Egypt in the final. They [Al Ahly] trashed Tunisian behemoth Esperance 4-0 on aggregate to reach their 2nd CL final consecutively.
The CAF Champions League final between Al Ahly SC and Kaizer Chiefs FC is scheduled for July 17, 2021 at Mohamed V Stadium in Morocco.
At this stage of the competition, anything is possible. But come the day of reckoning, Amakhosi have the chance to upset the apple cut. And yet again, the South African flag may soar in the continental sky of Africa. A great football spectacle lay in wait.
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Chiefs are Kings of African Football… KCFC was established in 1970.