Just under 12 years ago Neil Tovey got to hold aloft the Africa Cup Of Nations trophy when he lead Bafana Bafana to victory over Tunisia in the final of the 1996 CAF Africa Cup of Nations. That was in front of a full FNB Stadium and in attendance on that Saturday afternoon was former South African President Mr. Nelson Mandela. The former Chiefs captain and Kaizer Chiefs Brand Manager Dara Carroll thanks to the Amakhosi’s sponsors Standard Bank who also double up as Africa Cup Of Nations sponsors made it possible for the pair to close be to the Nations Cup trophy in Johannesburg on Thursday evening.

Standard Bank who have been sponsoring a trophy tour which has seen Africa’s most coveted football prize travel around the continent before making its way back to Ghana before the January 20th kick off. The new trophy which was introduced in 2002 after Cameroon got to keep their old one which Tovey lifted at the end of Bafana’s 1996 triumph, to Johannesburg for its second last stop on its continent wide journey - accompanying the trophy was Ghanaian football legend and Standard Bank Trophy Tour ambassador Abedi Pele.

Repeat triumph

After being given the opportunity to hold aloft the Africa Cup of Nations trophy, Tovey a veteran of more than 350 official matches for Chiefs jokingly added “ I get to hold it again” much to the amusement of the crowd who had gathered at the luxury Westcliff Hotel in Johannesburg to catch a glimpse of the trophy. Tovey has described winning the 1996 Nations Cup as the summit of his career, as he said “from a national point of view winning the tournament was very important for us in 1996 as the Springboks had won the rugby World Cup the year before and that win united the country. So we were out to achieve the same result. As a football player lifting the Cup of Nations in 1996 was an unbelievable experience”.

Tshabalala importance

Tovey who was The Amakhosi captain when Bafana Bafana were crowned African Champions in 1996 believes that Siphiwe Tshabalala, one of two Chiefs player in the current South African squad heading to Ghana, has a very vital role to play for Bafana over the next three weeks. The former national team captain said of Tshabalala’s role in Ghana “ wide players are going to be key for South Africa in Ghana, given the kind of teams they up against - breaking down the defenses will be a challenge so he will have an important role to play. The way they will get past the backline is by working down the flanks, once he takes on the players Siphiwe will have to deliver telling crosses to the front men. He is going to have a lot of work to do in Ghana but I do feel he will be up to the task”.

Carroll lifts trophy

Carroll posed with Tovey for a picture with Nations Cup trophy on Thursday evening and shared her delight at having had a close up look at the trophy. She said afterwards “I got to see the FIFA World Cup trophy when it was in the country a few years ago and seeing the Nations Cup trophy close up, after seeing it for the first time in 1996 when I was at the final at FNB, when it gets held aloft by the winning captain on the 10th February I will be able to tell my friends that I too got to hold the trophy".