The glory of the 1995 Champions Cup
Pirates were the first South African club to win a continental club trophy, just three years after teams from the country were first entered into Confederation of African Football competition.
Winning the Champions Cup was an incredible achievement for a club who went through much turmoil along the way but had the necessary spirit and determination to bring back the trophy.
But their win remains one of the greatest upsets of the competition’s history. It was still a couple of years before the launch of the Champions League, with the format a pure knockout over two legs.
Pirates were playing in the competition for the first time and eliminated BCC Lions of Nigeria in the second round, followed by Mbilinga of Gabon and Express of Uganda in the last eight and semifinals.
Bucs were perhaps fortunate not to encounter any north Africans sides along the way, although they were up against a formidable ASEC Abidjan in the final, bristling with internationals as well as imports.
ASEC were hot favourites to become the first Ivorian club to win the continent’s top title in some three decades of trying. This prediction was further enhanced after the first leg of the final at Soccer City where ASEC forced a 2-2 draw, the Pirates fans rioted and coach Joe Frickleton got sacked. Hardly the recipe for success in the return a fortnight later.
But in Abidjan, amid an air of home expectation, Pirates, with assistant Ronald Mkhandawire taking charge, won 1-0 with a sensational counter attack goal as Mark Fish thumped a clearance forward and Jerry Sikhosana ran at two ASEC defenders, forcing them to collide with each other as the ball bounced high on the hard pitch. He went round them, passing the advancing goalkeeper and scored for a historic 2-1 aggregate triumph.
“We were nervous because you would not believe the confidence that was with ASEC,” Sikhosana told KICK OFF. “When we got to the airport [in Abidjan], it was decorated in yellow, everything, from the carpets to the desks to the curtains. We really felt like we were in the Lions’ Den. It was terrifying.
“There were celebrations at the team hotel on the Thursday and the Friday, with lots of people and noise, so that was disturbing for us.
“People were walking around showing us ‘five’ with their hands, because ASEC had put five goals past the mighty Zamalek in the semifinals. And so who were we? They thought it was going to be
an easy win for ASEC.
“But the family, the togetherness as players, that is what kept us going, talking to each other, telling each other how important it was win.
“The funny part about it, I didn’t really know the importance of this Champions Cup. For us, we just played games against other teams from Africa, you win and then move onto the next one, done.
“But when we got to the Abidjan, we saw this was a major tournament. It seemed like every person in the town came to visit that hotel and to look at us. And they all wore the yellow of ASEC!
When we went to train at the stadium on the Friday, the bus journey took maybe 15 minutes. On match-day, even though we were going four hours early, it still took more than an hour.
“By the time we got to the stadium it was already packed. It seemed like a different place with all those people in, it was very intimidating.
“When the final whistle went, there was this silence in the stadium and then you saw people crying. Soldiers were there with AK-47s and they looked menacing. They probably weren’t, but you know in South African football you don’t see that.
“So we did not know what they were going to do. We were not used to that behaviour. So even when we drove out of the stadium we did not really celebrate, the town was so quiet and we went to the ambassador’s house for dinner.
“Then back to the hotel and I can tell you, we were sleeping with one eye open. It was only when we were on the plane the next day that we really started to celebrate.”