Gor Mahia in the 1979 Africa cup winners cup

The year 1979 is one of the most memorable seasons in the history of Gor Mahia. Aside from winning the national league, Kogalo reached the final of the  1979 Africa Cup Winners cup. That year Gor Mahia had an exceptionally strong squad. Allan Thigo, considered by many as the best playmaker ever to play for Kenya was the player coach. In midfield he teamed up with experienced Uganda International Tim Ayieko and youthful supernova Sammy Owino “Kempes”. In defense Gor Mahia had Bobby Ogolla, the best defensive stopper in the history of Kenya football as well as Michael Ogolla “Machine”, Paul Oduwo “Cobra”, Festus Nyakota and others. The attack featured schoolboy wonderboy Nahashon Oluoch on the left wing, George Yoga on the right wing and Andrew Obunga as centre forward.

Gor Mahia opened the cup campaign with a walkover against Al Ittihad of Alexandria, Egypt.

Second Round: Gor Mahia vs Nsambya FC (Uganda)

In the second round they faced a very strong Uganda side, Nsambya FC. They had qualified for the Uganda cup by winning the Uganda cup in 1978. `They boasted a number of Uganda internationals like John Ntensibe, Leo Adraa.

The first led was played in Kisumu at what was then known as Kisumu Municipal stadium. Gor Mahia were without brilliant left winger Nahashon Oluoch. In his place was Martin Ouma “Ogwanjo”. Nsambya were the much better side in the first half. Gor Mahia seemed lost. In the second half Gor Mahia came back with more purpose. The replacement of Ogwanjo with Maurice Ouma Ole Tunda resulted in better play from the home side. Still neither side scored and the first leg ended 0-0.

Gor Mahia were a much better side in the second leg. Schoolboy wonderboy Nahashon Oluoch was the key difference along with Masanta Osoro. Oluoch scored the all important away goal. The match ended 1-1 and Gor Mahia advanced. It was here that he acquired the nickname “Lule” after  Yusuf Lule who was the president of Uganda at the time.

Quarter Final: Gor Mahia vs RC Kadiogo (Upper Volta)

Gor Mahia’s opponents in the quarter-finals were Rail Club Kadiogo of Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso). It was not an easy assignment. Kadiogo were a very good side. In the opening round, they had eliminated Ghanaian giants Asante Kotoko. And in the previous year (1978), they had reached the semi-final of the same event by eliminating Egyptian giants Zamalek.

Gor Mahia won the opening leg 2-1 in Ouagadougou before winning by the same margin at Nairobi City for a 4-2 aggregate win.

Semi Final : Gor Mahia vs Horoya (Guinea)

In the semi-finals, Gor Mahia faced a tough opponent in defending champions AC Horoya of Guinea.  Horoya was the most feared team in the tournament. In the quarter-finals, they had dispatched Algeria representatives CM Belcourt 6-1 on aggregate. The previous year, they had beaten another Algerian side Hussein Dey by an aggregate score of 5-2 in the finals.

The opening leg was played at the Nairobi City Stadium.  It was an exciting and tense match. Horoya lived up to their reputation keeping the Gor Mahia defense busy with a series of well plotted attacks.  Masanta Osoro, who was filling in for the injured Bobby Ogolla, played a solid game, pairing with Mike Ogolla to keep the rampaging Guineans at bay with a series of well timed tackles to foil the Guineans. In attack, player/coach Allan Thigo was in fine form, setting up attack after attack. With 10 minutes left, it appeared the match was headed for a scoreless draw. Gor Mahia earned a corner which was taken by Andrew Obunga. Midfielder Sammy Owino came charging into the penalty box and headed the ball past Mamadou Kano in the Horoya goal to give Gor Mahia a 1-0 win.

Line-Up:

Final: Gor Mahia vs Canon Yaoundé

In the final, Gor Mahia came up against a very strong Canon Yaoundé side from Cameroon. Though very strong, Gor Mahia did not seem to know much about them. This despite Canon having won the 1978 Africa Champions cup, beating Hafia de Conakry in the final. Note that Hafia had won the cup 3 times and finished runners up 1 time  in the 1970s and was one of the most feared teams.  The youthful Gor Mahia side was full of confidence, having defeated the defending champions in the semi-finals. But they should have been warned. Canon had won the return leg against Zairean giants AS Vita by a score of 6-1. So they were capable of scoring plenty of goals.

The first leg was played at Nairobi city stadium on November 25. If Gor Mahia players entered the match overconfident, they were immediately brought down to earth. The Cameroonians were huge, quick, good on the ball and possessive of powerful shots. In particular, centre forward Jean Manga Onguene have Dan Odhiambo nightmares with his powerful shots.

The size and physicality of the Cameroonians was a major intimidating factor. On one occasion, Lule darted down the left wing seemingly leaving his marker in the dust, only for the burly Emmanuel Kunde to lift Lule and the ball several meters across the running track.

After going up 2-0, the Cameroonians simply knocked the ball around amongst themselves with even goalkeeper Thomas Nkono participating.  Gor Mahia were so thoroughly outplayed that fans knew they stood no chance in the return leg. They were not incorrect as Gor Mahia had no answer, losing 6-0 in the second leg.

Dan Odhiambo in a fruitless effort to stop one of the six goals that Can scored in the return leg. Note his lack of gloves

Aftermath

For his exploits in 1979, 18 year old schoolboy Nahashon Oluoch “Lule”, was voted the 5th best player in Africa. Thomas Nkono of Canon Yaounde was voted Africa player of the year 1979.

Gor Mahia built on their success on the continental scene. In 1979 they won the Kenya National Football League. By virtue of winning the league, they qualified to represent Kenya in the 1980 CECAFA club cup in Malawi. They won the CECAFA cup, beating hosts Limbe Leaf in the semis and beating arch rivals and defending champions AFC Leopards 3-2 in the final.

Canon Yaounde went on to win the 1980 Africa champions cup, thus cementing their place as the best club team in Africa during this period. They beat AS Bilima of Zaire 5-2 on aggregate in the final. Jean Manga Onguene was the top scorer in the 1980 Africa cup of champions with 9 goals. In 2006, he was selected by CAF as one of the best 200 African football players of the last 50 years.

10 Canon Yaounde players who played against Gor Mahia in 1979, formed the bedrock of the Cameroun squad that played in the 1982 world cup and left unbeaten. They included Thomas Nkono, considered by many as the greatest African. Italian legend Gianluigi Buffon considers Nkono as his role model and was his idol growing up. Other Canon players in the world cup squad were Gregoire Mbida who scored teh equalizer against Italy, Theophile Abega, Emmanuel Kunde, Ephrem M’Bom and Jacques N’Guea