Reflective Celebrations for Zambia

Be honest, who had Zambia down to win the African Cup of Nations at the start of the tournament? No-one? I thought they’d win one game or maybe two at a push but this victory goes beyond the imagination of any Hollywood screenwriter. In fact, Zambia went unbeaten throughout the tournament with only draws against Libya and in the final last night to taint their perfect record. What makes this success more special is the history of Zambian football.

In 1993 the Zambian football team were on their way to play a World Cup qualifier against Senegal when they landed for their second refuelling stop at Libreville in Gabon. The team was young, talented and growing in confidence. They had already impressed at the 1988 Olympic Games and looked set to make a mark on African football. The plane had already displayed warning signs of engine failure but the pilot continued with the journey – this would prove to be fatal. Shortly after take-off from Libreville, the left engine caught fire but the pilot, led by a faulty warning light and suffering from fatigue, shut down the right engine causing the aircraft to plunge into the water. No-one survived.

During the 1994 African Cup of Nations, Zambia’s hurriedly assembled new team battled their way through to the final against Nigeria (although there were less teams in the tournament back then) and prepared to bring the trophy home for their fallen colleagues. The match started well and they took the lead after three minutes but as Nigeria grew into the game, their confidence grew and they ran out 2-1 winners. Despite this, Zambia’s players could hold their heads high and returned to Zambia as national heroes.

The triumphant Zambian players salute the heroes of '93

When the Zambian team of 2012 arrived for this year’s tournament, they must have felt the usual pre-tournament mix of excitement, trepidation and pressure but also something new: expectation. The Zambian people expected a talented squad to qualify from a fairly easy group and with less big teams in the competition this year, there was every chance of a quarter-final spot. The players would have dreamed of reaching the final at Libreville but to them it must have always been a dream for there were better sides in the competition than them.

They actually played some beautiful football at times during this tournament. They beat Senegal with consummate ease in their first group game before an entertaining 2-2 draw with Libya in a game that they really should have won. That ensured that they had virtually qualified by the time they played co-hosts Equatorial Guinea in the last group game. Even at this stage though, the chances of actually winning the cup were very slim. That said, the first game that made me sit up and take notice of the Zambians was their quarter-final game against Sudan. Sudan were also growing in confidence and had run Ivory Coast very close indeed in their group match. Zambia though, tore Sudan apart with a brilliant performance from their talisman Christopher Katongo and they had finally announced their arrival onto the tournament stage.

Their semi-final opponents were my tip to win the competition: Ghana. The Ghanaians boasted a squad full of top European level players such as the Ayew brothers and Sunderland’s Asamoah Gyan. Zambia knew that they were just one win from an emotional return to Libreville. The game started badly for the Chipolopolo when they conceded a penalty in the opening minutes. Gyan stepped up confidently but the spot-kick was tame and was easily saved by Zambia’s goalkeeper, Kennedy Mweene. Mweene had been very good throughout the tournament but this night was to be his finest hour. He made save after save and almost everything about his performance was spot-on – from the positioning down to his reflexes – and they certainly wouldn’t be in the final if it wasn’t for him. Despite Ghana pressing they couldn’t find a way past Mweene and Zambia capitalised on a stretched Black Star defence when Emmanuel Mayuka rifled a shot past Adam Kwarasey to send Zambia into their first final since 1994.

The rank outsiders now faced the tournament favourites Ivory Coast in Libreville, just a few hundreds yards from where the team of ’93 lost their lives. The game was always going to be an emotional affair but if Zambia were going to win then they would have to keep their focus and work together as a unit. Ivory Coast’s squad probably needs no introduction to most of you with players such as Didier Drogba, Saloman Kalou, Gervinho, Cheik Tiote and the Toure brothers amongst others. The match itself was an entertaining if somewhat nervy affair until the tension reached its climax in the 69th minute when Ivory Coast were awarded a penalty for a foul on Gervinho. Up stepped Didier Drogba, one of the best finishers in world football, only to blaze the ball over the bar from 12 yards.

Ivory Coast are renowned for bottling it on the big occasions and from then on you could only see Zambia winning it. The crucial goal didn’t come in normal time, nor in extra time so the 2012 African Cup of Nations went down to the lottery of penalties. What a marathon lottery it was too – 18 penalties were taken and 15 of them were converted – while it fell to Gervinho to become the Ivorian Gareth Southgate after he missed at 7-7 to allow Stophira Sunzu to cooly slot home the winning penalty to send the entire nation into euphoria. It was an impressive win for Zambia, not only have they completed the work started by the ’88 Olympic squad but also they have exorcised the demons of the events in Libreville in 1993. The country can now remember Libreville not just as a scene of tragedy but as the scene of Zambia’s greatest footballing triumph.

The Zambian players celebrate their penalty success

As for Ivory Coast, where do they go now? They were statistically the best team in the competition winning five games and drawing only one (the final) and not conceding from open play in the entire competition. This was their best chance of victory too, they had an easy route through to the final and their biggest test look set to come from Ghana. That’s without mentioning the fact that they had several chances to win the final, not least of which was Drogba’s penalty. There needs to be a thorough investigation as to why once again they failed to bring home the goods when they have arguably the strongest squad in Africa. More importantly, the 2012 African Cup of Nations will be remembered as a brilliant tournament. It breathed new life into a tired competition, there were upsets galore and the football on show was entertaining even if the state of the pitches sometimes left a lot to be desired. Lets just hope that next year, the games will actually be shown on terrestrial TV!

The African Cup of Nations, a Lack of Transfer Activity and a Little Comedy Gem from Pele

It’s that time of year again: the time that every Premier League manager dreads as the most talented players in Africa gather for the African Cup of Nations. So, what have we seen so far?

Well we’ve had a rather drawn out opening ceremony with more speeches than an awards do and featured a thoroughly bored looking set of players. We’ve seen opening wins for co-hosts Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, Zambia who shocked Senegal,  favourites Ivory Coast, Angola and Tunisia. We’ve also seen the first bow of the Libyan football team since the events of last winter; something that Western news outlets have been strangely reluctant to draw attention to.

What makes the African Cup of Nations so entertaining is that anyone can beat anyone. There’s almost no sense of inevitability amongst any of the group stage games – something that the Champions League can benefit from – and there is an infectious passion from the fans that radiates through the TV set. For a European audience, it’s always best to support one of the underdogs. My personal favourites have always been Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Mali and my support is divided between the two co-hosts this time round. Failing that, you might want to support the nation that contains the Premier League players you particularly like.

When it gets down to the big time though, it’s hard to look past Ivory Coast or Ghana. Ghana in particular look to have a slightly more rounded unit than the Ivorians and the absence of big hitters such as Nigeria, Cameroon and Egypt will only give them more confidence. Players such as Andre Ayew (expect him to get brought over to the Premier League in the summer) and World Cup hero Asamoah Gyan will feature but they also have captain John Mensah and Leicester City defender John Paintsil will sure up the defence. Their major weakness is in goal but the rest of the major teams don’t exactly have world class cover in that position. Ivory Coast may have more recognisable stars such as Drogba, Kalou and the Toure brothers but they were far from impressive against Sudan and they are renowned bottlers in this competition. Whatever the outcome, I’m looking forward to the rest of the tournament and hopefully Equatorial Guinea and Gabon can storm through the group stages!

Equatorial Guinea celebrate Javier Balboa's late winner against Libya; the first of many hopefully!

Away from Africa, the January transfer window is turning into a bit of a farce. With Manchester City performing so well in the league, there’s no need for them to spend big this winter while their neighbours United have already said that they have no reason to spend either. Arsenal are also holding that view despite their lower than normal league position. So it probably falls to Liverpool, Spurs and Chelsea to make the big money signings. Liverpool spent big last year so probably can’t afford to. Chelsea have a pragmatic manager in Villas-Boas but he’s under big pressure from the fans and the board to spend big although he should concentrate on shipping off the older players first. Spurs are flying at the moment and ‘Arry’s trial is proving a hindrance to any potential deals as no-one wants to come to a club where the manager might be behind bars during the season. This has all led to a stagnant window where the major attention has been focused on PSG and Tevez, a transfer that I would love to see happen (PSG are a personal favourite of mine) but probably won’t happen. At least we won’t have to put up with Bryan Swanson struggling to use Sky Sports News’ ridiculous touchscreen TV, all while stood with an iPad in his hand for no apparent reason other than to encourage aspirationalism.

Pele, the greatest footballer that will ever live in Pele's opinion, hugging a football.

Finally, Pele is never one to shy away from a chance to stick two fingers up at Argentinians and he’s been at it again this week, as you can see here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/16661825.stm. Apparently Lionel Messi is not fit to be mentioned in the same breath as Pele. I accept the claim that Messi has to start performing for Argentina but Pele has to accept that he played it safe by plying his trade in Brazil and never daring to compete at the elite level in Europe. Pele might have won 3 World Cups but he never won the Champions League of which Messi has won 3. This is where the crux of the problem lies when it comes to determining the greatest player of all time as football generations are relative. Zidane and Ronaldo were probably more skilled than Pele but the defenders were harder to beat and they were never truly able to dominate in the way Pele did despite new rules favouring attackers being introduced. Maradona is the best in my eyes despite the flaws in his personality but don’t tell Pele… Incidentally, Maradona said that Pele is a “remote-controlled puppet”. Messi probably will be the greatest if he carries on doing what he’s doing and was a deserving winner of the Balon d’Or – anyone see the hilarity/horror of that ceremony? Basically a kiss up to Sepp Blatter with James Blunt and Shakira who kept awkwardly looking at Pique – and on top of that he is a genuinely nice guy. I’ll finish on an insight into the private lives of Mr and Mrs Pele when Pele came out with: “People always ask me: ‘When is the new Pele going to be born?’ Never. My father and mother have closed the factory.” Maybe they should try some of what Pele used to advertise on late night television!