It was almost two months ago on a special Cup Final day for The Amakhosi that they received a phone call from an elder statesman that ultimately proved to be the motivation behind Chiefs ABSA Cup Final victory on the 20th May this year.

On that day in May former South African President Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela telephoned Chiefs and gave captain Cyril Nzama a message of luck which he passed onto the rest of the team as Chiefs eventually won the game via penalty kicks against arch rivals Orlando Pirates.

On Tuesday it was The Amakhosi who sent the elder statesman a birthday message as he turns 88 and Chiefs will be hoping to give him a special present with victory over Manchester United later in the day.

Team Manager Bobby Motaung extended his best wishes to the former President by saying “on behalf of the entire team, the management, the chairman and everyone associated with the club I would like to wish former President Nelson Mandela a very happy and wonderful birthday”.

Mr. Mandela, although not an open Kaizer Chiefs fan, has always had a special place in his heart for the club and paid a visit in early 2002 to the Kaizer Chiefs Village in Johannesburg to pay tribute to the club as they had won the 2001 African Cup Winners Cup.

The African Cup Winners was also known as the Mandela Cup so called by the Confederation of African Football after the previous trophy the Abdel Aziz Mostapha Cup was won for a third consecutive time in 1986 and awarded permanently to Egyptian Club Al Ahly.

The Nelson Mandela Cup which began in 1987 was first won by Gor Mahia of Kenya who defeated Tunisian Club Esperance in the Final on away goals; Chiefs were the 15th Nelson Mandela Cup Champions with their 2001 victory.

In all seventeen teams won the Nelson Mandela Cup and Tunisian team Etoile Du Sahel got to keep the trophy when they won it in 2003 as the Confederation of African Football than merged the Cup Winners Cup with the old CAF Cup to form the Confederations Cup. When the trophy was named after the former South African President in 1987 he became the first person imprisoned for political reasons to have a major soccer tournament named after him.

Chiefs coach Ernst Middendorp also added to list of well wishes to a truly international statesman when he said “I hope that he sees another 88 more days where he can celebrate his birthday” ultimately hoping that he sees another eighty eight years to his life.

The last time Manchester United played Kaizer Chiefs thirteen years ago at the FNB Stadium in 1993 Nelson Mandela was in attendance and he over saw Chiefs pull off a remarkable result over the than reigning English Premier League Champions. On this special day for a special man a special result will be on the minds of the Amakhosi as they hope to honour a giant of a man by defeating on of the Giants of World Football.