Chiefs’ four critical results on their way to the Champions League final

‘Oh well, that’s the wend of the road for them’. If Kaizer Chiefs were to count the number of times these words were uttered along their way to the Caf Champions League final, they’d need more than the 90 minutes that stands between them and continental glory. The Naturena Glamour boys have surprised everyone by going all the way to the final of the biggest continental club competition.

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One game at a time, Amakhosi swam against the tide and got to the very last hurdle. Now comes the toughest test yet, against Al Ahly on Saturday.

Here we look at the critical games that Chiefs won or drew against the odds to get to the final.

April 3 – Kaizer Chiefs 1 Wydad Casablanca 0

Some will say this was handed to Chiefs on a silver platter as Wydad didn’t bring their full strength team to FNB Stadium having won the first leg 4-0. It was however not an easy game. Having scored early in the second half through Bernard Parker’s 48th minute strike, Amakhosi survived a late onslaught from Wydad to get an important three points.

April 10 – Horoya 2 Kaizer Chiefs 2

Chiefs needed at least a score draw in their last game of the group stages.

Things looked bad when, in referee’s optional time at the end of the first half, Barry Yakhouba gave Horoya the lead.

Amakhosi grafted and were awarded a penalty in the 67th minute. Daniel Cardoso converted from the spot. But two minutes later, Horoya were in the lead again when Sekou Camara scored.

The Naturena side looked set for an exit but with just less than 15 minutes to the end, Khama Billiat equalised. It ended 2-2 and the Amakhosi train rolled onto the next station.

May 15 – Kaizer Chiefs 4 Simba SC 0

The Tanzanian side had been on a steady rise in the Champions League and having beaten Al Ahly and ended up top of their group, Chiefs were seen as easy pickings for Simba – WRONG! Amakhosi ran rampant and thrashed Simba 4-0.

The beating started as early as the sixth minute when Erick Mathoho opened the scoring. Samir Nurkovic doubled the lead in the 34th minute. The Serbian atatcker made it 3-0 in the 57th minute.

Leonardo Castro drove in the final nail in the 63rd minute. This meant Chiefs needed to not lose by the same number or more goals in the second leg away. They lost 3-0.

June 19 – Wydad 0 Kaizer Chiefs 1

This was another walk in the park for Wydad, or so they they thought. Chiefs made the game so awkward for them that they were happy to see it end. Amakhosi went to Casablanca via Johannesburg Park station where they borrowed a bus and parked it at Stade Mohammed V.

Whatever Wydad tried was quelled by the defence of Amakhosi, complemented by Bruce Bvuma’s excellence in goal. Samir Nurkovic stole the winner against the run of play in the 34th minute and it was enough to seal Amakhosi’s passage to the final. The second leg ended in a goalless draw, a result taht favoured Amakhosi.