Posted in News on Nov 19, 2001.
A group of dancing Amakhosi supporters patiently waited for the arrival of Amakhosi, who were scheduled to land at 20:35. But when that did not happen, supporters started wondering what was taking them so long to come out.
One Sundowns supporter and a Pirates fan were also at the airport to welcome the Glamour Boys. "This is for the country," the Sundowns supporter said. And the Pirates man agreed.
It was not until after 21:00 that the Amakhosi heroes made their way through the international arrivals terminal.
Defender Cyril Nzama was the first to appear and the crowd went crazy in song and the airport momentarily resembled scenes at Ellis Park after a major victory.
Coach Muhsin Ertugral followed shortly with the rest of the players behind and the crowd went into overdrive with their song – I Kaizer Chiefs I ya phumelela - (Kaizer Chiefs is succeeding).
But this time, there was no time to pose for photographs as the coach quickly dashed into a waiting car with club chairman Kaizer Motaung.
There was no doubt that the coach was more worried about the coming Coca-Cola Cup final against Jomo Cosmos at FNB Stadium on Saturday.
On top of that, the coach still has to worry about the players he will field in the return leg of the Mandela Cup final in Ellis Park on December 1 following the sending off of Isaac Mabotsa and a number of yellow cards collected by key Amakhosi players.
Midfielder Patrick Mbuthu and Mabotsa are the only players set to miss the return leg of the final in Johannesburg due to suspensions.
And that is enough to give Ertugral headaches as he tries to come up with a winning team for the final.