Zambia is free at last!
A total of 30 persons, including 18 players, six officials, one journalist and five crew members perished. Kalusha Bwalya and Charles Musonda were the only members of the mainstream spared, Bwalya because he was playing his club football in Netherlands and opted to fly direct to Senegal, and Musonda because he had not been called […]
A total of 30 persons, including 18 players, six officials, one journalist and five crew members perished. Kalusha Bwalya and Charles Musonda were the only members of the mainstream spared, Bwalya because he was playing his club football in Netherlands and opted to fly direct to Senegal, and Musonda because he had not been called for the game.
Three days earlier, the Copper Bullets had fired three unreplied goals past Mauritius in a 1994 African Cup of Nations qualifier in Curepipe. They were rated the dark horse in their World Cup qualifying group that also included Morocco and Senegal.
A nation was devastated. The world mourned. Some of the finest players to have come out of southern Africa were killed. Names like Kelvin Mutale, Efford Chabala, Derby Makinka, Wisdom Chansa… And there was Coach Godfrey Chitalu.
By some magic (that is the only way to describe it), Zambia rose from the ashes of that tragedy to not only qualify for the 1994 African Cup of Nations (less than a year after), but also came pretty close to qualifying for the World Cup finals.
The Copper Bullets (earlier known as KK XI and later to become Chipolopolo) needed a draw in Casablanca on the final day of the qualifying series, and played a magnificent game, only to fall to a late goal. Morocco, and not Zambia, went to America.
But Zambia was at the African Cup of Nations in Tunisia. In one of the most memorable tournaments of the past 20 years, where better-rated hosts Tunisia, Egypt, Ghana and Guinea failed to see the sunshine, Copper Bullets played like Trojans and reached the final against Nigeria.
It could only go one way: The Super Eagles were at their peak and were heading to America. But even though they won 2-1, the Nigerians gave kudos to the hurriedly-assembled Zambian team, propelled magisterially by the inimitable Kalusha Bwalya. Zambia scored after only a couple of minutes from a corner kick that was powered past goalie Peter Rufai, but Emmanuel Amuneke equalized two minutes after from another corner. After Amuneke scored Nigeria’s second goal early in the second half, Zambia did the rest of the playing.
The tournament in Tunisia welcomed 12 teams; two years later in South Africa, the African Cup of Nations became a 16-nation championship. Zambia won bronze, edging out the Black Stars of Ghana by a lone goal.
From thence, Zambian football went down, not into the sea, but off the top drawer. The team failed to shine in Burkina Faso in 1998 and in Nigeria in 2000.
It is against this backdrop that the euphoric celebrations following Sunday’s triumph at the African Cup of Nations in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea must be situated. From the day CAF awarded joint hosting right to Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, Zambia had nursed a determination to qualify for the championship. At the last tournament in Angola, the squad of largely young and ambitious boys fell to Nigeria after penalty shoot-out in a quarter final match in Lubango.
Zambia refused to concede any ground in their qualifying pool for Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, edging Libya in Lusaka on the last day. And when the draw ceremony of October 29, 2011 put the country in Equatorial Guinea, the Chipolopolo knew they could only play in Gabon if they reached the final.
They started very well by dismissing highly rated Senegal – the team that the Class of 1993 was heading to play before the crash. Having played in the same group in qualifying and known each other so well, Libya was able to hold Zambia to a 2-2. But the ambitious Zambians got the rhythm off the Equatoguinean hosts to win 1-0 and reach the quarter finals.
Of course, Sudan would be no match. And by the semi finals, Zambia was on a momentum, and it should have been no surprise that they conjured the same magic of 1996 to defeat the Black Stars by a lone goal and reach the Cup of Nations final.
Apart from the 1994 final that they lost to Nigeria at the Stade el Menzah, Zambia was also in the final of the 1974 African Cup of Nations. They were up against the much-feared ‘Mobutu Boys’ (Leopards) from the Zaire (now known as Democratic Republic of Congo). The Zaireans had qualified for the FIFA World Cup to be played in Germany that summer and were regarded as Africa’s best team, with excellent performers like goalkeeper Kazadi Mwamba, Mukombo Mwanza, Ndaye Mulamba and Captain Kidumu Mantantu. They had a Yugoslav Coach, Blagoje Vidinic.
Yet, the Zambians took them to the rubber. Till date, the 1974 final remains the only final to have been replayed. It ended 2-2, before Zaire won the replay 2-0.
Zambia’s joy at triumph in Libreville is well understood. They had gone to conquer at the place seen as the burial ground of their heroes. The players were buried at an area of the Lusaka Independence Stadium known as Heroes’ Acre. But the sight of Atlantic Ocean in Libreville brought dark memories. That was where the plane went down, and a generation was lost.
By some measure, they have finally made the dead happy. That is the feeling of the Zambians, which should not be diluted at this time. The players, coaches and officials have done well for the spirit of the dead, and for young French Coach, Herve Renard to admit that “it was written in the sky…there was a strong force propelling us” means he understands the thinking of the African.
Renard must be an accomplished man, certainly. Before the semi final clash, he was dismissed as a mere physical trainer by Ghanaian midfielder Sulley Ali Muntari. At the end, other African countries would wish they have physical trainers as Coaches!
At the final match in Libreville on Sunday, Zambia’s Vice President Guy Scott represented the President, Michaet Sata. There were also immediate past president Rupiah Banda and the great Kenneth Kaunda, who ruled Zambia between 1964 and 1991 and wrote the famous book ‘Zambia Shall Be Free’.
Last weekend, while at the CAF General Assembly in Libreville, Gabon, I read online the piece “Will Zambia Be Free” by Ade Ojeikere. Interesting read it made. And finally, Zambia can truly say it is free, as the dead must indeed by happy with the fact that the largely home based have come the champions of Africa.
There are plenty of lessons to be learnt by all African countries, including Nigeria, from the Zambian triumph. Next week, I will talk about the lessons.
NEXT WEEK: Lessons From Gabon & Equatorial Guinea (1)