How Leopards survived Gor, a replay and Rio to win 1982 title

How Leopards survived Gor, a replay and Rio to win 1982 title
Match: AFC Leopards (Kenya) versus Rio Tinto (Zimbabwe)
Occasion: East and Central Africa Club Final
Year: 1982
Venue: Nairobi City Stadium
Result: AFC Leopards 1 Rio Tinto 0

Right from the beginning, AFC Leopards demonstrated an enormous appetite to win the 1982 Cecafa Club Championship. And you could understand them.

Their arch-rivals, Gor Mahia, had won the trophy twice. Earlier on, another compatriot team, Luo Union, had also won it the same number of times.

It is true that the first time Leopards had won it, in Mogadishu in 1979, they had done so in truly heroic fashion.

They had been given a 48-hour notice to go there after the country’s representatives, Kenya Breweries, withdrew at the last minute. Leopards had packed their bags, flew to Somalia and came back with the trophy.

But that was now a distant past. What lingered was the painful abdication of the cup to Gor Mahia in Malawi the following year. And for good measure, Gor had retained it in emphatic style in 1981, defeating Simba of Tanzania in a one-sided final after Leopards had crashed out of the tournament somewhere in the preliminaries.

Leopards were therefore itching to bare their claws, the priority being to even the scores with Luo Union and Gor Mahia. Psychologically, they were one up against Rio Tinto; they had defeated them 2-0 in the very first match of the preliminaries.

However, that was then. Rio had recovered and grown in stature with every game after that. Their ambition was abundantly confirmed when they dispatched a heavily favoured Yanga of Tanzania 2-1 in a masterful semi-final display.

But Leopards were on a roll. Sweeping aside other teams after Rio, they faced their greatest test against their arch-rivals and compatriots, Gor Mahia, in their semi-final. They won – and a lot more about that unforgettable match later.

By the time they walked into the Nairobi City Stadium on that clear Saturday afternoon of February 28, few could bet against them. Rio was by every measure a championship team. But Leopards had gathered such momentum that an upset seemed quite unlikely. That is, until the first ball was kicked.

Leopards’ line-up was impressive: Mahmoud Abbas, Patrick Shilasi, Shadrack Oyando, Josephat Murila, Abdul Baraza, Francis Kadenge, Haggai Mirikau, Joe Masiga, Wellington Lidonde and Wilberforce Mulamba.

There had been a time when Baraza was famed for direct free kicks that didn’t miss their target. He was losing touch by this stage but he was still a very important player in midfield for Leopards.

Francis Kadenge, son of the legendary Joe, played in his father’s old position on the right wing. His combination with the powerful Masiga made for harrowing afternoons for many defenders because both had speed and mighty right feet. But the gifted Kadenge was one of those players who never reach their potential because of enjoying the good life too much.

Shadrack Oyando, who teamed up with Josephat Murila in defence, was born of an unlucky fate. With all the qualities of a national team player, he happened on the scene when Bobby Ogolla was also there.

Even the most fervent of Leopards patriots had to agree that Kenya’s Six-Million-Dollar-Man was the better guy. Patrick Shilasi, who stood little more than five feet, won heading duels against towering opponents.

And Haggai Mirikau should have been nicknamed “Stamina” because he never tired; as he started, so did he finish. Rio Tinto were a supremely confident team. They seemed to relish their visit to Kenya very much.

Their line-up that afternoon was their best - no injuries, no disciplinary issues. They were Raphael Phiri, Barnabas Likombola, Anderson Maposa, John Phiri, Ephert Lungu, Wonder Phiri, David Mwanza, Joshua Phiri, Charles Chirwa, Joseph Zulu and David Chisambi.

As with players from other leading Southern African clubs like Kabwe Warriors of Zambia, Limbe Leaf of Malawi and compatriots Power Dynamos, Kenyans had become quite familiar with them and they were just as well known as the locals.

Like Leopards, the team was well balanced and David Mwanza for one orchestrated a particularly lively midfield. At the back, goalkeeper Raphael Phiri was every inch the equal of Mahmoud Abbas in reliability.

And in Ephert Lungu, Rio had one of Zimbabwe’s best players of all time. There were great similarities in the two teams’ style of play. Both were physically fit, had a high work rate, relied on speed and were eager to score.

Despite, or perhaps because of these attributes, the result was the thin 1-0 goal margin it turned out to be. The first half, the second and the first session of extra time ended 0-0. Worry was creeping in the huge Leopards crowd as the game furiously bore on to the last seven minutes and the lottery of penalties loomed.

And then, from the right flank where he had gone in his desperate search for the elusive net, Joe Masiga hit a long cross that found Wellington Lidonde unmarked on the edge of the penalty area.

The big man met the ball with a full blooded header that slammed into Phiri’s left hand corner of the net.

Whatever was left of the game was only for Mahmoud Abbas to waste time. Victory was signed, sealed and delivered. Lidonde instantly acquired a new nickname – “Mkombozi” (Saviour) – and a bar in Eastlands changed its name to Rio Tinto.

Delirious Leopards fans, living in pre-Mututho days, patronized it 24-seven. The best team of the 1982 season had taken the trophy home. But I’ve narrated for you only the first half of the story. Now here’s the second half.

Referees make blunders but the one made by Mr Hubert Zimba of Malawi is the kind whose tale is passed from father to son for five generations.

Zimba was the presiding official when Leopards clashed with Gor Mahia in the semi-final. This match was a furious struggle between enemies who later morphed into in-laws in accordance with the dictates of politics.

Defending champions Gor Mahia had been playing badly and Leopards well when they met. But never anchor your prediction on form when these two meet – if you know anything about the psychology that drives them. Stare hard at the invisible wind and you just might get it.

The semi-final ended 0-0. Now came the penalties. Abdul Baraza took the first one for Leopards and easily slotted it home. Sammy Owino, my dear friend, stepped forward for Gor Mahia and shot wide.

Leopards 1 Gor Mahia 0
Wilberforce Mulamba took Leopards next penalty and the goalkeeper’s guess was irrelevant. The net stopped it. Abbey Nasur for Gor came up - and blazed wide.

Leopards 2 Gor 0

Josephat Murila was next for the cats. Poor dear, the man who never put a foot wrong did it this time. It didn’t even hug the crossbar. Next was Tim Ayieko for Gor Mahia. He shot, and Mahmoud Abbas grabbed it as if his hands were made of magnet.

Both teams had two chances left. But Zimba blew his final whistle as soon as Abbas made his save. 4-2, he said, that is how Leopards had won. But wait a minute. Gor had squandered all three of their first chances.

Leopards had scored in two out of their three. It was thus perfectly plausible that Gor could score their remaining two penalties and Leopards could miss their remaining two. In which case the result would have been 2-2, necessitating the sudden death stage.

Amid wild scenes of jubilation from Leopards fans, Gor filed an appeal, demanding a replay. That’s when the comedy begun. I was the reporter assigned this tournament and the drama made me love my job.

Cecafa, the organisers, held an emergency meeting. Chairman David Liwanika, a Zambian, said: “Technically, it was not right for the referee to end the match at that time since there was still the possibility of a tie. However, there is no possibility of a replay since our laws do not provide for that.” So what was to be done?

“We severely reprimanded the referee for that technical error. The council decided that the remaining two penalties be taken this morning but while AFC Leopards turned up, Gor Mahia did not. We take a very serious view of this and we were going to take a very severe disciplinary action against Gor Mahia but for the personal plea of the chairman of the KFF. This was a gross breach of discipline by a club which also happens to be the defending champions.

“In future we shall not exercise leniency. We have therefore awarded the match to AFC Leopards on a 2-0 basis.” So why did Gor Mahia refuse to go and take their remaining penalties.

They maintained that for the life of them, they had never heard of such an arrangement. There was never a piece of a football match – a quarter of it, a half of it, or two penalties of it.

The match was either the full complement or nothing at all. Cecafa could hear nothing of this. They ordered Gor to face Yanga of Tanzania for the third place play-off. Gor balked.

“How can we?” posed Zack Mbori, their chairman, rhetorically. “We are in a jam. Playing would mean we have accepted their decision, which we have not.”

I asked Liwanika what action Cecafa would take against Gor if they carried out their threat not to play Yanga. He shot back: “We are answering questions on what has happened, not what will happen.”

Why was Cecafa fielding incompetent, non-Fifa referees, another reporter wanted to know. Liwanika’s reply was clever. “Cecafa is not a member of Fifa but member countries are. We ask member countries to provide us with the best referees they have.” Gor Mahia contend that Fifa rules were blatantly broken, what do you say to that?

“Gor Mahia are not members of Fifa. The Kenya Football Federation is.”

“Could they then appeal to Fifa through the KFF?” “No!” Liwanika thundered. “They are playing in a Cecafa tournament under our rules and our decision is final! They cannot appeal to anybody.”

Gor Mahia did at length take the field against Yanga – and duly lost 0-1. They muttered something about playing under protest. Oh, well, that also is provided for by the rules. But the Cup was gone and, in a few short days, the accountant at Rio Tinto Bar in Eastleigh was laughing all the way to the bank.