On this day 12 December 1982 (Exactly 36 years ago) Al Ahly SC from Egypt won their first African Cup of Champions Clubs (now Champions League) after drawing 1-1 with Asante Kotoko in Kumasi.
The Egyptians had beaten Kotoko 3-0 in Cairo a fortnight earlier through Mahmoud El-Khateeb x2 and Alaa Mayhoub goals. The 3-0 defeat in the first leg in Cairo set them the uphill task of beating the Egyptians by four goals to nothing to become African Champions for the second time. But to Kotoko and their teeming supporters, it was possibility.
References were made to similar exploits by Accra Hearts of Oaks’ miracle of EL-Wak. Why can’t there be a miracle of Kumasi?; was a question often posed by soccer pundits and fanatics alike.
On that Sunday, the atmosphere in Kumasi and venue for the first final of finals to be staged in Ghana had been literally electrified.
The expectations of the over 80,000 spectators were great that some arrived at the stadium as early as 8:00am expecting a miracle to be performed by the Porcupine Warriors.
The confident pre-match prediction that Kotoko would win 6-0 had played no small part in drawing the crowds to the match.
Everything had been done to ensure a smooth and fair match. This included the unusual precaution that nothing should be done on the pitch itself before kick-off. This meant that fans were to be deprived of their usual curtain raisers.
For those who know, therefore, the first bad omen for Kotoko was when helicopter carrying the chairman of the PNDC, Flt. Lt. J.J Rawlings touched down in the centre of the pitch a few minutes before kick-off.
But that was quickly dispelled as Kotoko seized the initiative after Al-Ahly kicked off at 2:45pm. Within the first 11 minutes, Kotoko had earned five corner kicks. The 5th resulted in a free-kick for Kotoko. Papa Arkos kick found the head of skipper Opoku Afriyie who sent the ball to right winger John Bannerman to slot it home.
If there was any tonic for victory that Kotoko needed it was this early goal, but instead of capitalizing on it to hunt for more goals, they surprisingly relaxed.
Their attack no longer had the bite and the sense of urgency, lacking in penetration and imagination.
The nearest Kotoko came to scoring after this was the 64th minute when Opoku Nti’s 30-yard shot missed the upright narrowly. Four minutes later, disaster hit Kotoko. Inside left Khateb received a pass from Mokhtar, he ran through the Kotoko defense with ease, disposed of Ampadu and shot past on-rushing Carr to equalize for Ahly.
Kotoko Line-Up: Joe Carr, Haruna Yusif, Kwasi Appiah, Seth Ampadu, Ahmed Rockson, Papa Arko, John Bannerman, Albert Asaase, Opoku Afriyie©, Kofi Badu, Opoku Nti
Ahly Line Up: Ikrami / Medhat Ramadan / Maher Hammam / Moustafa Younis / Rabei Yassin / Alaa Mayhoub / Magdi Abdel Ghani / Mokhtar Mokhtar / Moustafa Abdou (Taher Abouzaid) / Mahmoud El-Khateeb / Mohamed Amer
On this day 12 December 2016(Exactly 2 years ago) Cristiano Ronaldo won the Ballon d’Or award for the fourth time, capping a season in which his Portugal side won Euro 2016 and his club, Real Madrid, took the Champions League.
A great honour to receive my fourth golden ball,” Ronaldo said upon receiving the award at the Bernabéu. “The emotion is like the first one. It’s the dream come true again. I never thought in my mind to win the golden ball four times so I’m so pleased and happy.”
“I have the opportunity to thank all my team-mates, the national team, Real Madrid, all the people and players who helped me to win this individual award. So as you can imagine, I feel so proud and happy to receive this amazing and beautiful ball.”
On this day 12 December 1968 (Exactly 50 years ago) Arthur Ashe became the first black male player to be ranked No. 1 by the United States Lawn Tennis Association.
That year, Ashe was the first black player to represent the United States in the Davis Cup and helped lead the team to the title with a dominant 4-1 victory over Australia, which ended the United States’ five-year losing streak.
More success followed the 25-year-old as he won the inaugural U.S. Open and became the first black man to win a Grand Slam. The victory also made Ashe the first American to win at Forest Hills since 1955, when Tony Trabert won the Championship.
“Nobody can imagine, unless they’ve been through it, what agony you face in a close, five-set match, especially in scorching weather,” Ashe said in an ESPN.com article. “Fifth sets of tennis matches separate the great from the good.”
He finished the year winning 10 of 22 tournaments he played and with a 72-10 match record. In a sport where players traditionally wore white for their matches, Ashe broke down barriers weeks before the U.S. Open in Boston by wearing a yellow shirt in the semifinals of an amateurs-only U.S. Nationals tournament near Boston.
But Ashe wasn’t the only black athlete creating waves in the sports world. That same year, 1968, USA track team members John Carlos and Tommie Smith raised their fists, giving a “black power” salute, at the Mexico City Olympic Games to bring awareness of racial inequality in the United States.
Ashe remains the first and only African-American tennis player to win the men’s singles championship at the U.S. Open, Australian Open (1970) and Wimbledon (1975).
By: George “Alan Green” Mahamah
