Caf Champions League: I am superstitious… it is written Kaizer Chiefs will win it – Permall

Ex-Kaizer Chiefs player Shaun Permall believes Amakhosi will win their first Caf Champions League title this weekend.

Amakhosi will be playing defending champions Al Ahly on Saturday in Casablanca, Morocco. It will be the second time in history the two heavyweights are meeting. The initial encounter came in the 2002 Caf Super Cup when the Red Devils secured a 4-1 win.

The attacker was part of the Chiefs squad that fell in Alexandria, Egypt; and he believes this time around, things will be different.

Why is Permall confident Chiefs will win?

“This time there are no fans, so there is no advantage for Al Ahly. Judging from the way Chiefs got to the final, I have reason to believe they can still win it,” Permall told KickOff.

“When the competition started, who would have thought they would even get to the final? I have a strong feeling that Chiefs will pull it off this weekend. Football can be so strange that you play badly in the league, fire the coach and finish eighth but end up in a Champions League final. It is unheard of. 

“Maybe it is their time. I am superstitious when it comes to football, and I feel this one is written in the stars that it will be won by Chiefs.”

Why should Amakhosi win it for Motaung?

“Chiefs need to win this one for the boss Kaizer Motaung. Chiefs need that title of being referred to as kings of Africa,” Permall continued.

“This is the one trophy that they need the most. All else has been won but this is the one that Kaizer needs and here is the chance.

“When we played Al Ahly in that final [in 2002], the atmosphere was crazy because we were playing them in front of their fans. We were used to being the ones being supported instead of being intimidated by the opposition fans.  

“Their style was on a different level because they were closer to European football than we were, in terms of the technical and tactical aspects. That is why they beat us 4-1. They had good players in their team especially the goalkeeper Essam El-Hadary and the defender [Wael Gomaa]. 

“Imagine, when they came for the Caf awards a few weeks later. The goalkeeper came to just keep fit with us at the invitation of Muhsin Ertugral, and Brian [Baloyi] wasn’t impressed because that keeper had scored when we lost.”