Zambia is standing on the verge of a soccer history, which was delayed for nearly 20 years. In 1993 Zambia’s team, which is strongly believed to have been one of the most formidable national teams the continent of Africa has ever produced, crashed from the air off the coast of Gabon.
On that fateful day on 27 April 1993 the squad were heading to Dakar, Senegal, for a 1994 World Cup qualifier. Their plane had made a brief stop at Gabonese captial of Libreville for refueling and other technical checks, before crashing into the Atlantic Ocean on takeoff.
The only survivors from that team were midfielders, Kalusha Bwalya and Charly Musonda, who were both based in Netherlands and Belgium respectively. Their circumstances for not being on the DHC-5 Buffalo plane are different. Bwalya, who at the time played for Ajax Amsterdam, had made his own arrangements to travel to Dakar, while Musonda could not travel to Lusaka to join his teammates due to injury. He was at the time playing for Anderlecht.
While the traumatized Musonda never wanted to play international football again, Bwalya continued to be the glue that kept the new national team together. Bwalya, a gifted footballer and natural leader, captained the new squad to relative success, including reaching the final match of the 1994 Cup of Nations in Tunisia, where they lost to Nigeria. Zambia also narrowly lost out on qualifying for 1994 World Cup in the US.
Before Bafana Bafana victory in 1996 Cup of Nations, Zambia had for a long time been the No1 ranked football team in southern Africa. It may regain this status when the latest Fifa rankings are released on Wednesday (Feb 15), owing to their fairytale run in the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.
It is ironic that their moment of glory of is about to happen in the city where 19 years ago Zambia mourned its worst soccer disaster. Bwalya is still in leadership, albeit as the president of the Zambian FA. Another Musonda, a defender called Joseph from Lamontville Golden Arrows, is the current squad most capped player – with 99 caps! So the omens are in good order for the biggest party in Lusaka since independence in 1964.
For that to happen, Zambia must move mountain – and the Elephants! Their opponents, Ivory Coast, are simply the best team on the continent, hence theirNo 1 ranking in Africa. Their Ivorians draw their players from the best leagues in Europe, while Zambia’s Chipolopolo squad is largely based on the continent.
Their Europe-based players are Emmanuel Mayuke (21) at Yound Boys in Switzerland and Chisamba Lungu (20) in Russia, where he plays for second division’s Ural Oblast. As far as Lungu is concerned, being based in the football backwater of Ekateringburg, where European Russia meets its Asian side – all 1700km from Moscow, bears testimony to any young man’s mental resolve.
Veteran strikers James Chamanga and Christopher Katongo complete Zambia’s four-man overseas contingent, as both men are based in China. The rest of Chipolopolo include 8 South African-based players (including Clifford Mulenga), 5 DR Congo-based players – all contracted to TP Mazembe, and Sudan-based Jonas Sakuwaha who plays for Al Merreick.
So win or lose, Zambia have fought a good fight for the honour of African leagues. Ghana do not longer look at themselves the same way since Zambia disposed of them in the semifinals. Zambia’s strength this Afcon campaign had never been in big-name players but on technical discipline and harmony in camp, despite Mulenga’s sacking for unscheduled partying.
The healthy mix of experience – provided by Katongo, Musonda and Chamnga – has also worked wonders when combined with young talent such as Mayuka, Lungu and Rainford Kalaba, who at just 25, has amassed 60 caps for the senior team.
Kalaba is the shining example of a string of young Zambian players who came through ranks from under-20 structures, who have dominated the Cosafa U-20 Cup with so much ferocity since inception. From the 2011 edition of the Cosafa U20, which Zambia won, 17 year old Evans Kangwa was simply the best player of the tournament. The Nkana striker is in the Afcon squad, mainly as an understudy for greater missions lying ahead.
It is clear that Zambia has more reasons than Ivory Coast to win the Afcon. I have said my take. It’s up to you now boys – just do it!
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