JOHANNESBURG – And then it came home! Who could ever forget 1996? The sight of Nelson Mandela, wearing the No 9 Bafana Bafana jersey, handing the African Unity Cup to Neil Tovey – who spoilt the moment, having swapped jerseys with the Tunisians – is no doubt most people’s enduring memory of the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations.
And rightly so, for on that glorious Highveld Saturday afternoon, we became continental champions, thanks to that brilliant brace by substitute Mark Williams.
I was still at the cadet school at The Star during the tournament, and began my job as a reporter the very Monday after the victorious Saturday. And thus I enjoyed the event as a fan with no pressures of having to file copy on the whistle, as was to be the case in later tournaments.
Oh what bliss that was.
They say you never forget your first, and this rings especially true for me with this tournament.
While I watched the opening match (the win over Cameroon) on the telly, I was at the stadium for the second group clash, and that January 20 day remains my best memory from that Afcon.
“I can tell where you’ve been,” an old white lady said to me as I walked, drenched wet from the earlier rain, through the streets of Hillbrow en route home to Yeoville.
“I can see it on your face,” she smiled.
I smiled back, fully aware that the red, blue, yellow and black colours on my face gave me away, but also because I just couldn’t say anything back, my voice hoarse from all the screaming and shouting and singing earlier on.
I’d had my face painted with the South African flag as the euphoria of the moment took over at the stadium. I even bought the little SA flag to wave about during our match against Angola, and went to take my place on the eastern side of the stadium for the match Bafana Bafana won 1-0 thanks to a Mark Williams strike just before the hour mark.
I sang Shosholoza at the top of my lungs while involuntarily inhaling marijuana smoke, participated in the Mexican wave with gusto, hugged and high-fived strangers in celebration of the goal, and shouted expletives at the referee that would have had my mother disown me.
To this day, I still have not enjoyed being at a football match as much as I did that day.
Four days later it was my birthday, and Egyptian Ahmed El-Kass spoilt it when he scored the goal that sunk Bafana..
But the Nations Cup party continued despite the defeat by the Pharaohs, and FNB reverberated under the chants of “Feeeesh and Shoooes” as the crowds celebrated the heroics of defender Mark Fish and the late midfield dynamo John Shoes Moshoeu in the quarter-final.
I remember The Star running a picture of a fan holding aloft a tin of Lucky Star fish and a black school shoe, ingenious – only in South Africa.
Football purists contend that arguably the best game Bafana ever played was that 3-0 demolition of Ghana in the semi-final. I watched it on the telly then and viewed the Afcon video the other day. Those purists are right, so do yourself a favour and watch it.
And then we won the bloody thing. To think we probably wouldn’t have participated as our qualification process was a bit wobbly before Kenya pulled out and we got the hosting rights.
Oh, and the Nigerians still believe we’d not have become champions had the Super Eagles come to defend their title. Whatever!