HOW PITSO CONQUERED AFRICA: the sheer joy of an African Champions League triumph after 11 years

IT wasn’t easy. It wasn’t perfect. But it was effective. Mamelodi Sundowns entered the gates of hell at the other end of Africa and came away beaten but triumphant to win the African Champions League 3-1 on aggregate.

And yes, they endured missiles (even during the warm-up), lasers and fireworks in front of an estimated 75,000 at the Borg el Arab stadium 25km outside Alexandria. The lamentable Confederation of African football, based 200km away in Cairo, did nothing about it. But all that was expected.

What wasn’t predicted was two awful challenges on Masandawana’s Ugandan goalkeeper Dennis Onyango, voted the best stopper in the PSL last season.

Midway through the first half, Onyango was unable to carry on and Wayne Sandilands, the 33-year-old former Bafana Bafana custodian was ushered on. It was a recipe for disaster… but a 1-0 defeat when you’ve won 3-0 at home can hardly be described as that.

And so it was that 7,617 days after Orlando Pirates were crowned South Africa’s only African Champions League winners in 1995, there were scenes all over the continent as Pitso Mosimane became the only South African coach to conquer Africa.

Sandilands may take a bit of flak for the long-range only goal of the night… he got a hand to Ohawuchi's 64th minute shot but couldn't keep it out. Otherwise his experience showed, he was untroubled on crosses and two shots. There were two big saves off the line in the last 10 minutes.

But even if one of those had gone in, Sundowns would have won it. Khama Billiat and Anthony Laffor came close to that emphatic away goal which would have killed off Egyptian civilisation as thoroughly as the Romans once did.

New heroes have been crowned since Pitso’s men joined the rest of South Africa’s sorry bunch in crashing out of Africa. The defeat against AS Vita in the Champions League and Medeama in the Confederations Cup was forgotten when Sundowns were allowed back for the group stages after the Congolese were found to have fielded an unregistered player. 

The 26th side to win the African Champions League trophy might have entered through the back door, but once they were thrown in to the group stages, they were unstoppable, despite having to cancel off-season holidays at the last minute and re-arrange their schedule.

They beat mighty Zamalek three times out of four in the latter stages, and the last one on Sunday night didn’t matter. They went north with Colombian offensive fulcrum Leonardo Castro a long-term injury victim, but new stars have emerged, names which must be written in Sundowns stone.

Tiyani Mabunda is my favourite, hard as nails, a born leader, late to stardom at 28. And local product Percy Tau, who looked like he’d slipped out of contention until the African crusade.

Keagan Dolly, who took so long to arrive after the big move from Ajax Cape Town, worked his socks off, Kharma Billiat… well we all know how good he is.

But spare a thought for Asavela Mbekile and Bangaly Soumahoro, hardly household names, but both saved the ball off the line in the dying minutes to silence the Borg el Arab Stadium on Saturday night.

The Egyptians really thought they had a chance, even at 0-3 down. The crazy chairman Mortada Mansour said Sundowns had used muti in Tshwane, the coach Moamen Soliman said he’d resign if the White Knights didn’t produce the miracle. And away he goes, just like his predecessor Mohamed Helmi did in July when Sundowns beat them.

Keagan Dolly and Khama Billiat emerged afterwards to talk about “hard work” and “dserving to win”. Billiat confessed: “It hasn’t been a pleasant journey but we are CHAMPIONS.”

And as if to emphasise their point, two squabbling Egyptian officials were seen in the background, pushing and shoving violently. Africa isn’t for cissies. But Pitso Mosimane is no cissy.

The greatest game we never saw: Orlando Pirates survive a black-out, two penalties and a red card to reach the African Champions League group stages (also features translation of TP Mazembe's French match report)

Big Noise: president of TP Mazembe and
the governor of Katanga Province

HAS there ever been a more stirring football drama than the one we couldn’t see at TP Mazembe on Sunday?

Orlando Pirates somehow survived despite Lucky Lekgwathi’s sending-off, two penalty saves from goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa and a television and radio black-out.

Their 1-0 defeat resulted in a 3-2 aggregate win which puts the Buccaneers through to the lucrative group stages of the CAF African Champions League, which offers a first prize of R15m.

But those simple sentences hardly tell the tale of intrigue, political machinations and simple cheating that went on in Lubumbashi over the weekend.

Trouble stirred when we heard an SABC journalist had been detained and had his simcard confiscated. I’m told that man was Veli Mbuli, though, like so many other factors in this story, there is no official confirmation. Veli was in touch by twitter on Sunday morning but has since gone silent.

Then as the minutes ticked towards the 3.30pm kick-off time on SABC1, Thomas Mlambo and his Democratic Republic of the Congo guest Chris Bongo began looking uncomfortable.

Then it emerged the SABC had been kicked-out of the stadium. That even their radio journalists weren’t allowed to broadcast. When Orlando Pirates won the first leg 3-1, the SABC “did all in their power” to assure good coverage in the DRC. But that was not to be reciprocated.

The social networks were awash with speculation as the game kicked-off in front of an estimated 15,000 packed house in Lubumbashi, part of the Katanga province governed by the TP Mazembe’s owner Moïse Katumbi Chapwe.

Moise, as he is known, clearly didn’t want the game seen by objective eyes. In the SABC studio, the talented Mr Mlambo got hold of Orlando Pirates administrative team manager Senzo Mazingiza. He admitted: “I’m sitting in a box, I am not allowed out, I have no access to the dressing rooms or anywhere else. But I’ll try to keep you up do date.”

But while twitter reported phantom goals and disallowed efforts, Mazingiza confirmed only: “Our captain Lucky Lekgwathi has been sent off.”

Unlucky: Lekgwathi gets his marching orders

Half-time came and went. Still 0-0. Mlambo and crew did all they could to keep us updated. More rumours. Still nothing official. Then: Senzo Meyiwa has saved a penalty. At around 70 minutes, we were told: TP Mazemba have scored. They need ONE MORE GOAL to put Orlando Pirates out on away goals after their first leg 3-1 defeat.

As the minutes ticked down, a booking for Pirates, then ANOTHER PENALTY. And in the same breath: ANOTHER SENZO SAVE.

Chris Bongo told us: “A DR Congo journalist has told me the cards against Pirates were disputable. The two penalties were harsh. But the goal TP Mazembe scored was good.

“I can also tell you nobody has received a TP Mazembe team list.”

And then the final whistle. Pirates through. Senzo the hero. Cue general celebration. The morning had been spent dealing with Kaizer Chiefs fans questioning the need to enjoy an Orlando Pirates triumph in Africa. By the final whistle, the nation had joined together to cheer a victory which will surely go down as one of the unseen greats among football fans.

Senzo said afterwards: “It wasn’t a game, it was a war. We knew after a few minutes we were in for it. A lot of decisions were going against us but we were prepared for that.

“For the start of the second half we all just told ourselves that, we are going back there to fight. This was no longer a Pirates match, it was more a match to uphold the pride of the nation,”

Quite what happens now, who knows? The SABC apparently stumped up R2m to screen the game live. They sent a crew to Lubumbashi at great cost. They had advertisers lined up for the match. All gone, money wasted, a man arrested.

With the two groups of eight due to be drawn on May 15, Mlambo assured us:  “Television coverage of the final stages (six games) now reverts to CAF. I promise you we will be able to show those games live on SABC.”

THE LAST EIGHT
1. Orlando Pirates (South Africa)
2. Recreativo Libolob (Angola)
3. AC Leopard (Congo)
4. Esperance (Tunisia)
5. Sewe Sport (Ivory Coast)
6. Coton Sport de Garoua (Cameroon)
7. Zamalek (Egypt)
8. Al Ahly (Egypt)

But let’s not count our chickens. In a real world, CAF and their controversial president Issa Hayatou would now slap a huge fine and suspension on Mazembe, who have won the CAF Champions League four times and clearly consider themselves above the law.

In a real world, we would question the appointment – announced on Friday – of four Seychellois officials and a match adjudicator from Gabon. Both French-speaking nations, like Hayatou’s Cameroon and Mazembe’s DR Congo.

But I doubt any action will be taken. Hayatou and Moise have never enjoyed seeing Southern African sides progress too far in the continent’s biggest club competition.

Roger de Sa and his team, still in with a slight chance of PSL glory back home, must now prepare for a long hard series of six group matches, with a possible two-legged semi-final and final through the South African winter.

What we didn't see: the Pirates bench on Sunday

And I wouldn’t be against further shenanigans later in the competition. I got Roger De Sa’s backing to travel with the team as an observer to assure some kind of airing of grievances. I also spoke to SAFA President Kirsten Nematandani, who said he’d look in to sending me with one of his observers.

But Orlando Pirates never came back to me. A British passport and visa difficulties meant I couldn’t go under my own steam.  I hope, next time, I get to see this kind of cheating – yes, that’s what it is when you don’t provide a team-sheet – for myself.

Until then, we can only throw our hands up in the air – and celebrate a MASSIVE triumph for the South African champions in a very foreign land.

This will be my Neal and Pray column in www.thenewage.co.za on Tuesday. Follow me at www.twitter.com/nealcol.

TRANSLATION OF TP Mazembe MATCH REPORT FROM THEIR WEBSITE:

Direct translation, anything I've added is in capital italics


The year 2013 will not be a great year in the history book of TP Mazembe.

In the Champions League, the adventure ends in 8th finals, as the Ravens, who won 1-0, have not been able to beat a second time the South African goalkeeper MEYIWA which stopped two penalties ... Upgraded (OUTCLASSED), tossed, the Pirates held a miracle. And TPM will sin by mistake, precipitation and lack of composure.

"It's make or break". This was the slogan of the Ravens kick off in a hot arena (WHICH WAS) filled to the brim. For it to pass, we had to capture the ball, put the Pirates (UNDER) pressure twice and find a hole in their ship.

The Almighty: Meyiwa denies TP Mazembe. Again.

The Ravens are not employed without waiting for a second. Had they (EVER) been as dominating in the first half? Rarely.

It was a constant onslaught on the South African goal. A seat (THRONE). So much so that a good fifteen numbered offensive (SHOTS) which lacked only the conclusion.

Orlando came out miraculously, mainly because of its stops keeper! But also because of the awkwardness of the premises where the powder was visibly wet (DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND BUT I THINK I GET IT).

Samatta four times during the first 6 minutes, then Kasusula (10th), MPUTU (17th), Singuluma (19th), KABANGU (22) missed the target or stumbled on the visitors goal.

Kidiaba? Output foot (27th) and especially a rescue (SAVE FROM) Mbesuma (42nd). For the rest, the great ROBERT saw MPUTU, ASANTE, FRIMPONG, KABANGU swirl without result. Yet they were helped when the referee pulled out the straight red Captain Lekgwathi for mowing MPUTU to 16m as the last defender (38th). But many free-kicks and corners were in vain. At rest (HALF-TIME), all had to be done.

Incredible: two penalties missed!

In the second half, it was a new shelling purpose (ASSAULT ON) Pirates in which the guardian MEYIWA multiplied miracles. To believe that he was the Almighty!

Lamine Ndiaye was replaced by FRIMPONG KALABA (46th), followed by KABANGU bokanga (55) playing with a three-man defense to put everything on the offensive.

But this Sunday was really a cursed day for CROWS.

In the 56th minute, MEYIWA stopped a penalty kick awarded for a bokanga and mowing the untenable Solomon Asante. And he bowed a shot of Kasusula (72nd), he turned another penalty this time drawn MPUTU (88th).

Mazembe could only blame itself because at this level you can not miss two penalties without being punished. The punishment is that the TPM will not play the quarterfinals of the Champions League in 2013.

African Champions League: Why the trip to TP Mazembe requires careful consideration for Orlando Pirates

Flying high: Daine Klate on a high in the first leg against TP Mazembe

ON the beaming face of it, Roger de Sa’s comments after Orlando Pirates’ stirring 3-1 win over TP Mazembe in the CAF Champions League sound just like any other coach after an exceptional first leg performance.

The much-maligned De Sa said: “It could have been five to be honest. But with all our injuries, that was an outstanding performance from everybody.

“I’m a bit worried that we let in a home goal, because in these games it’s so important not to concede. That away goal will give them a little bit to work on.”

The Mocambique-born De Sa, who won international caps at basketball and football for South Africa, added: “This second leg is going to be very tough, because not every team goes there and get everything, but at least we have got something to take with us.

“I am very happy with the way we carried ourselves and the way we played, but we have a lot to do because it will be very difficult when we go to the Congo.”

You can say that again. De Sa, struck in the face by vuvuzela-wielding fans when his double-treble winners all but faded out of the PSL title race with six successive draws, can take a bit of stick. But Lubumbashi makes Orlando look like Houghton.

Ironically, the side tagged “Drawlando Pirates” domestically need just that on May 5. Even a single-goal defeat would be enough to see them through to the last eight, where the group format kicks in.

But as we watch this week’s European Champions League semi-finals, the words “it will be very difficult in the Congo” should not be confused with “it will be very difficult at the Nou Camp”.

I’ve offered to go with the Buccaneers to the away leg. The tycoon who owns TS Mazembe makes Irvin Khoza look small-time in Congolese football. My aim is to ensure fair-play, guard against dodgy refereeing, threatening soldiers and a repeat of the post-match incident at Orlando, where the referee was punched in the face and the perpetrator escaped in the private jet.

I’ll use my contacts at eNCAnews, eTV, The New Age and on twitter and facebook to tell South Africans if the Pirates are robbed. At least, that’s the plan.

Moise Katumbi will not let South Africa’s Sea Robbers escape without a fight. The return leg at Stade TP Mazembe in Kamalondo near Lubumbashi offers seats to just 18,000 spectators. I hope to be one of them. I expect unfair play on May 5, starting from 3.30pm local time.

Here’s why. Katumbi, 48, has led the side for 13 years, guiding them to consecutive Champions League titles in 2009/2010, duplicating their 1967/68 achievement, when Moise was a mere tot.

South Africa has troops in the DRC, just like they did in the Central African Republic. They are helping to support a controversial regime in a war-torn country which is among the poorest on the planet but awash with mineral wealth. Quite what the locals will make of this, I hope to find out.

What I do know is that Katanga is Copper Belt. And when the Congo government banned copper exports this month, he stood against it in what is described by analysts as “a clear power play”.  Many think Katumbi will go all the way to a presidential coup. Awkward given South Africa’s role in keeping the current regime in charge.

Here’s the background: In 1964, Moise Soriano, the son of a Sephardic Jew from Greece, came to the land of his mother’s birth. Then-president Mobutu Sese Seko was, at the time, trying to wipe-out all traces of the nation’s French/Belgian colonial past.

Legend suggests Katumbi, voted governor of the copper and cobalt-rich province of Katanga in 2007, made his first business deal aged 13, when he sold a basket of fish for R40.

By 1997, he had made enough money to buy TP Mazembe. By 2010 his spending on the team had risen to 

around R100m A YEAR.

He says: "Bit by bit, we are making our march towards the land of the greats. Our income is meagre, but for the image of the club, for the image of the country and to give an opportunity for our youth, we fight on.”

The "TP" in Mazembe's name stands for "Tout Puissant", which is French for "all powerful". Ridiculous spending has made that dream come true.

The club formerly known as Engelbert are nicknamed Les Corbeaux (The Ravens) despite having a crocodile with a ball in its mouth on the team badge.  In 2010, the club made FIFA Club World Cup history by becoming the first club team from Africa to reach the final after beating CONMEBOL's Internacional of Brazil 2–0 in the semi-final.

TP Mazembe defeated ES Tunis 6-1 on aggregate to win their fourth CAF Champions League crown in 2010, they boast a turn-over of R150 million with rivals CS Don Bosco – beaten by South Africa’s SuperSport United in the CAF Confederation Cup this season – now a mere feeder club to the “all powerful” Mazembe.

Some wicked history: the club was founded in 1939 by Benedictine monks of the order of Sanctimonious Saint that directed the Holy Institute Boniface of Élisabethville, now known as Lubumbashi.

To diversify the student activities for those that did not consecrate themselves to the priesthood, the missionaries decided to set up a football team, named Saint Georges FC.

In 1944 the team took the name of FC Engelbert after its sponsor, a tyre brand. "Tout Puissant" was added after an undefeated first league title in 1966.

After the independence of Congo on June 30, 1960, Engelbert won the treble of League, Katanga Cup and Congo Cup. In 1967 and 1968, they won the African Cup of Champions and were finalists a record FOUR successive times in 1967, 1968, 1969 and 1970.

But it was only when the aforementioned fast-rising businessman Moïse Katumbi Chapwe took over that they were able to repeat that feat in 2009 and 2010 after reaching the 2008 final.

Worryingly, Morocco’s Wydad Casablanca and Egypt’s seven-time winners Al-Ahly have won the last two African Champions League trophies.

Moise is impatient. Eager to win again after a two-year hiatus. Ten new players, none of them from the Congo, have been purchased. Money is no object. Orlando Pirates need to be aware of that. This is win at all costs.

Nobody can be trusted. Where will they stay? Will the noisy Mazembe fans know? Will the Buccaneers sleep the night before the game? Who will referee? Will somebody throw a punch? Will the army be around? Will the locals be pro-government or anti-South African?

Those are the questions De Sa and Khoza must deal with. Roger wants me to be there. He is aware of the potential pitfalls. He says: "I do not think that many people understand the magnitude of our victory over Mazembe.

"TP Mazembe are one of the biggest clubs in Africa. It won’t be easy in the Congo.”

You can say that again.