Zambia plays Cup of Nations final in memory of their fallen

 

Roar Guru

By mactheblack, 10 Feb 2012 The Crowd is a Roar Guru

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No matter what happens in the African Cup of Nations football final on Saturday, Emmanuel Mayuka’s 78th-minute strike against semi-final opponents Ghana on a balmy Wednesday night at Estadio de Bata stadium in Equatorial Guinea will forever be remembered, at least in Africa.

The final will be held in Libreville, Gabon. In 1993, an entire Zambia football squad, including coaches and support staff, was wiped out after their plane crashed in in the same city. That disaster left many wondering if the Zambian population has ever recovered, emotionally at least, from that setback.

Emotion still lingers after the tragedy. But something on Wednesday changed for the good, as 20-year-old Mayuka, with his back to goal, received a pass from teammate Isaac Chansa on the edge of the in-goal area, before turning his marker and unleashing a shot into the bottom left-hand corner of the net.

Nothing ever will erase the dark memories of 1993, but at the moment the goal hit the net, there was a hint that Zambia’s gaping wound might at least start to heal. Landlocked Zambia, with its 12 million people, is reliant on its burgeoning copper industry that is concentrated in the northern region called the Copperbelt. Youngsters in the football-mad nation see sport as a way out of poverty.

That the Zambian team, aptly named the Copper Bullets, has talented footballers, there is no doubt. But re-building a squad after having your immediate football future wiped out is not an easy task. The fact that an entirely new squad, pulled together hurriedly in 1994, progressed to the African Nations Cup final in Tunisia speaks volumes of the indefatigable spirit of the Zambian people.

Now, Zambia is determined to get to the top of the pile, at least in African football.

It won’t be easy. On Saturday, the rank outsiders of this tournament play Didier Drogba’s mighty Ivory Coast, who beat Mali 1-0 in their semi-final, only a few kilometres from where Zambia’s 1993 counterparts were killed. This coincidence – if it is indeed that – has proved to be a sub-plot of epic dimensions in this tournament.

Zambia’s manager, the Frenchman Herve Renard, has dedicated their semi-final win to that team of 1993, and has already planned a trip to the crash site tomorrow, where his entire team will honour their “fallen heroes” before the crucial match final.

The plane crash occurred on 27 April 1993, when a defence force aircraft carrying the national squad to a World Cup qualifier against Senegal in Dakar plunged into the Atlantic. Besides the entire squad, five crew members were also killed.

Zambian captain and later national team coach Kalusha Bwalya was not aboard, as he was in Holland playing for PSV Eindhoven, and had arranged to make his own way to Senegal.

The Ivory Coast, with Chelsea’s Drogba as captain, has already been installed as favourites to win the final come Saturday in Gabon. But only a fool would rule out Zambia going on to do something extraordinary, not only for themselves and their nation but for all those who perished that fateful evening in 1993.

In fact, their unexpected semi-final victory on Wednesday over the powerful Ghana is a reminder that Zambia’s team has what it takes to honour the fallen in the most appropriate possible way.

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