It was all joy and celebration among the Green Army faithfuls as a nine-man Gor Mahia produced a master-class show of defiance to beat Angolan club Petro Athletic de Luanda 1-0 to book a place in the quarter-finals of the CAF Confederations Cup at Kasarani stadium on Sunday.
Gor Mahia defended with their backs to the wall after losing Ernest Wendo to a straight red card in the first half before Jacques Tuyisenge got the lead from the penalty spot and losing Shafik Batambuze later on due to two bookable offences.
Fans poured into the field in wild celebration after the final whistle and chants of the famous ‘Gor Biro, Yawne Yo’ rent the air in and outside the stadium.
The last time Gor Mahia played in the quarter-finals of continental competition was in 1993. Ironically, they lost out to Angola’s AS Aviacao in the CAF Cup (later merged with the Cup Winners Cup competition to form the current CAF Confederations Cup) and as destiny would have it, they had to knock out another Angolan side to progress to another continental quarter final 26 years later.
But to appreciate what the boys have achieved, one needs to put their achievement into context. Before 1993, Gor Mahia was a regular diner at Africa football’s high table, and quarter-final appearances were often taken for granted, getting to 8 quarter-final appearances in 14 appearances. And while between 1994 to date, Gor Mahia had not tasted a quarter-final appearance in 10 appearances, the manner of achieving this feat was something special.
Previously, Gor Mahia played between four to six games to get to the quarter finals but with the introduction of the group stages, it has taken Gor 12 games of determination to get there.