5. CAF African Cup of Nations 1996 – South Africa commemorate the end of apartheid
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South Africa was one of the first nations to form a part of the CAF, hence their ticket to the intial tournament. However, the apartheid government at the time refused to field any black players, and the other countries banished South Africa from the competition back in 1957. In 1994, the first democratic elections were held and Nelson Mandela was voted into the presidency, ending 37 years of racist laws in the country. 2 years later, they replaced Kenya as the 1996 African Cup of Nations hosts.
Their inital fixture was a 3-0 defeat of Cameroon, with Phil Masinga opening the scoring on the 15th minute. Mark Williams scored a 57th minute winner to defeat Angola in the next match before tournament giants Egypt beat them with an El-Kass goal on the 7th minute of the final group stage match.
In the quarter-finals, John Moshoeu scored a winner just one minute after Algeria’s Lazizi had cancelled out Mark Fish’s opener. With only 5 minutes left, it was as close as things could get at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg. A difficult semi-final draw with Ghana went roaringly, as that man Moshoeu once again proved the winner with a deadly double sandwiching Shaun Bartlett’s 46th minute goal. In the other semi-final, Tunisia were spanking Zambia 4-2.
In a tense final in front of 80,000 newly-independent people, Mark Williams struck 2 goals in 2 minutes to defeat the Tunisians and hand the Bafana Bafana their very first African Cup of Nations title. One year after their legendary 1995 Rugby World Cup title, South Africa proved to the world what it could when united once again.
