‘Mosimane is one of our own’ – Al Ahly vs Kaizer Chiefs a South African affair - Jordaan

Safa president Danny Jordaan has stated the Caf Champions League final between Al Ahly and Kaizer Chiefs will be a “South African affair” and will be happy with whoever wins it.

Chiefs reached their first final of the competition on Saturday after a 1-0 aggregate win following a 0-0 draw at home and 1-0 away win against Wydad Casablanca, while Al Ahly hammered Esperance de Tunis 4-0 on aggregate, a 1-0 win away and 3-0 win at home, to advance to their second straight final.

While Chiefs is from South Africa, the Egyptian giants are also coached by South African Pitso Mosimane, and while lauding the Soweto giants for making it to the final, Jordaan has stated he will be proud of whoever wins the final on July 17 because "the eventual winner will come from South Africa.”

“It is Pitso [Mosimane], who will be leading Al Ahly and while we would want Chiefs to emerge victorious, Mosimane is one of our own and we have always been proud of his achievements,” Jordaan said as per a statement on Safa’s official website.

The Safa boss has, however, described Chiefs’ win against the North African side as “massive” and lauded them for their fair-tale run in the competition.

“This win is massive, this has been a fairy-tale by Kaizer [Chiefs] in this tournament,” Jordaan continued.

“On behalf of the football family, I would like to say congratulations to Chiefs players, the coaching staff, and management. This has been a team effort and this win has lifted the spirit of the entire nation.

“South Africa is in the midst of a devastating Coronavirus pandemic and the win really gave the country something to shout about.

“We are proud of this achievement and we hope Chiefs will repeat the Orlando Pirates journey of 1995 when few gave them [Pirates] a chance but went on to lift the Champions League title in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

“I sense history repeating itself here.”

The Glamour Boys won the Caf Confederation Cup in 2001 but had never gone beyond the group phase of the Champions League until this season.