African Champions Cup. Order was still fragile in Africa – 4 teams withdrew without playing or after one leg. However, one withdrawal was more or less justifiable – Hafia (Connakry) pulled out because of the death of the President of Guinea. Scandals of various kinds were often behind withdrawals, but this time there were genuine scandals too – in the first leg between Zamalek (Egypt) and Gor Mahia the Kenyan players attacked the referee and the game was abandoned in the 38th minute, Zamalek leading 1-0. The African Federation awarded Zamalek with final win. This happened in the second round of the competition and was not the only incident – the second leg between Sanga Balende (Zaire) and FC 105 (Gabon) was also abandoned – the Zairians walked out in the 55th minute,when the home team FC 105 was leading 2-0. Sanga Balende was disqualified. Which was not the end of penalties either – same FC 105 was disqualified before the first leg of the quarter-finals, when they were visiting Semassi Sokode (Togo) – the reason was they used illegible player in the previous round against Sanga Balende. Who was the real culprit and who was a victim of machinations was never clear in Africa. But another thing was clear – lucky draw for Nigerian Shooting Stars in the semi-finals: they were opposed to Semassi Sokode, not a tough team to beat and after winning 5-1 the home leg the Nigerian champions were finalists. The second leg hardly mattered – they lost 1-2, not trying much.
The other semi-finals was a toughie: AJ Tizi-Ouzou (Algeria) vs Zamalek (Egypt). At home, AJ Tizi-Ouzou won confidently 3-1. But it was not enough – Zamalek, no matter what, was one the strongest clubs in Africa. Home support was also immensely important: 30 000 attended the match in Algeria, but in Cairo there were 120 000 spectators at the stands, almost entirely supporters of the hosts. Attendance was getting huge, at least in some countries – Shooting Stars played in front of 100 000 their home leg against Semassi Sokode, but Zamalek did even better. Which promised similar numbers for the finals. Zamalek vs Shooting Stars. The first leg was in Cairo and Zamalek won 2-0. Then they won the away match, to the disappointment of 90 000 strong supporters of Shooting Stars in Lagos. The worst part was that the hosts lost on own goal – Obeng was unfortunate in the 53rd minute.
Zamalek triumphed as African champion.
How truly good were Shooting Stars is hard to say – Nigerian football was considered strong in Africa, but not even close to the fame and respect if got in the 1990s. It was popular, though, and Shooting Stars was among the best known African clubs. Perhaps popularity brought certain inflated expectations, especially after the confident campaign on the road to the final – dramatic victory over Cameroonian Tonnerre (Yaounde) in the 1/8 finals, followed by excellent victory against FAR (Morocco) in the quarter-finals. Everybody demanded the Cup, but it went to Egypt. So… Shooting Stars was disbanded by the government for ‘putting shame on Nigeria’.
Zamalek (Cairo) had no such fears – although the history of the club and the name changes testify to various political difficulties. But winners have nothing to fear.
It was historic moment – the first continental trophy for this old and popular club. A great moment, but also providing some food for thought: Arabic countries had stronger economies than ‘Black’ Africa, thus, more money, better organization, soundly organized championships and better facilities. The European clubs did not look very close at African talent yet – apart from those countries with close ties to former colonial rulers – that is largely French and Portuguese speaking Africa – no players were hunted by European clubs. Egyptian clubs were privileged in a sense: they had no trouble keeping their best players, for nobody was praying on them yet. And having more cash than others, they had even the opportunity to hire foreign players – Zamalek’s squad was largely anonymous to foreigners, but it had the Ghanaian star Emmanuel Quarshie. Surely, it was no longer plain amateur football – it was semi-professional, going to full professional. The key to success, really.