African Champions Cup. Unlike CONCACAF, Africa had full records of its tournaments, yet, without solving mysteries and outright weirdness along the way. The international tournaments were becoming more orderly, but old problems did not end – the biggest traditional one was appearences: withdrawals continued as ever. In the preliminary round ASFA Ouagadougou (Burkina Fasu) withdrew before the first leg and Port Authority (Gambia) qualified without playing even a game, only to withdrew before the second leg of the first round after losing the opening match 0-8 to Moroccan FAR. It was not the only withdrawal in the first round: Marine Club (Somalia) also withdrew, but without playing even one leg. And Invincible Eleven (Liberia) was disqualified for fielding ineligible player. From this stage on, the tournament proceeded normally to its very end. In the semifinals AS Bilima (Zaire) eliminated US Goree (Senegal) 2-0 and 0-1, and FAR Rabat eliminated Zamalek (Egypt) 0-1, 1-0, and finally 4-3 in the penalty shoot-out.
The two-legged final opposed AS Bilima (Zaire) vs FAR Rabat (Morocco) and at this point all depends on point of view: the peak of Zairian football was 10 years ago, but that would be the view from the outside. In the country itself there was nothing wrong and the reputation of Zairian clubs seemed to be strong in Africa. However, such a view was more typical for the Southern parts of the continent – on the Mediterranian coast the picture was different and perhaps truer one: Arabic football was at least better organized than the rest of the continent, had better players and stronger clubs. All relative, but the final supports the Arabic view: FAR destroyed AS Bilima in Rabat 5-2. Then tied the second leg at gloriously named after the glorious dictator of Zaire Mobuto Stadium in Lubumbashi – 1-1. FAR Rabat won the African Champions Cup.
AS Bilima was obviously weaker at the final. It had a French coach – no surprise, African teams constantly employed European coaches, then blamed them for everything – but that was not a great help. AS Bilima reached the final only one match, consecutively eliminating Township Rollers (Botswana) 3-0 and 1-0, CARA Brazaville (Congo Brazaville) 1-1 and 1-0, GCR Mascara (Algeria) 0-0 and 3-0, and US Goree (senegal) 2-0 and 0-1. But the Moroccans were too strong. This was the second final AS Bilima lost – the first in 1980, when they lost at home to Canon (Cameroon). And they were the last club from Zaire reaching the final for some time – the next one will be in 1991, equally unsuccessful.
FAR Rabat, the club belonging to the Moroccan Army, reached the final for the first time. It was the first time Moroccan club went that far and successfully at that. As it still is, African squads were fairly anonymous and even on the rare occasions players names are given, they hardly mean anything to most people.
There is general and everlasting problem with African pictorial material – local judgement tends to be arbitrary and highly imaginative, so one cannot be sure what is right and what is just whimsical. To which year a picture belongs is always suspect, if known at all – so, two prictures of winning FAR Rabat. The boys in white are supposed to be a picture of the winners in the final. The one in red is supposed to be a picture from 1985 – the kits differ (not in colour, but from the time period) and faces are rather different. Let assume that at least one photo is a picture of the champions – may be not from the final. May be not the actual winning squad, but at least a line-up from this wonderful season. FAR was supreme all the way to the Cup: against Port Authority (Gambia) 8-0 and no second leg, against CA Bizerte (Tunisia) 4-1 away and 0-1, overcoming in penalty shoot-out AS Kaloum Star (Guinea) after 3-0 and 0-3 and in the semi-finals Zamalek (Egypt) also in a shoot-out after 0-1 and 1-0. Somewhat stronger opponents on the road than the ones AS Bilima met. No doubt who was stronger at the final, though. Well done.