Pan African Dev Foundation mourns ‘Adamski’
Friday, 21 December 2012 00:00
Sports Reporter
THE Pan African Development Foundation has described Adam Ndlovu, who died in a car crash on Sunday morning, as a shining beacon who served his country with distinction on the football fields.
PANAD, a non-governmental organisation that has taken a keen interest in football, said it was tragic that Ndlovu had died so young when he was clearly destined to be a future coach of the Warriors.
“PANAD joins the Zimbabwe football community, in particular, and the entire nation, in general, in mourning the death of football Adam Ndlovu,” the organisation’s president, Ignatius Pamire, said in a statement.
“Adam was a shining beacon in our national game who served his country with distinction, a true ambassador who helped the Dream Team to become such an awesome force in the game on the continent.
“It’s tragic that Adam died so young because we believe he had the potential to one day, in not so distant a future, become the coach of the Warriors and play a leading role in transforming this team into an awesome and formidable force once again.
“Our thoughts, at this stage, are with Peter Ndlovu, the greatest Warrior of all-time, who remains in hospital nursing injuries sustained in that tragic car crash.
“As PANAD, our wish was for the Government to play a direct and leading role in Peter Ndlovu’s case, given his status as a national asset, and to that end we expected the Government to ensure that Peter’s medical attention was handled by the best possible medical team and in the best medical facilities in the country.”
Pamire said although Peter was showing signs of great improvement, it was important to keep monitoring his situation.
“In the event that the evaluation is held that shows we don’t have such medical facilities in this country, we expected the Government to take a leading role in ensuring that Peter Ndlovu is flown to South Africa for due specialist medical attention,” Pamire said.
“As PANAD, we will remain committed to the welfare of the citizens of Zimbabwe, and the football players are part of that community, and we had initiated an ambitious process to raise funds, if necessary, to help take care of Peter Ndlovu’s medical welfare.
“The mechanism was not activated, after we received refreshing correspondence that our legend was on the mend and there would be no need for such supplementary expenditure, but we intend to establish a Trust, in the future, which will be used to help in such cases of national emergency.
“We wish Peter a speedy recovery and we will continue praying for him. We will be in Bulawayo on Saturday to bid farewell to our legend Adam Ndlovu.”
Labels: ENTERTAINMENT, FOOTBALL
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Two Zambian players injured after attack on team bus
Thu 15 Nov. 2012, 13:10 CAT
Two Zambian footballers were injured last night after their team bus was attacked in Johannesburg, after the African champions beat South Africa 1-0 in a friendly.
Goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene needed stitches in his head after the bus windows were shattered as the team left the ground, midfielder Felix Katongo was also injured.
The South African Football Association say two youths aged 12 and 13 were immediately detained following the incident.
The President of the Safa, Kirsten Nematandani, has apologised for the attack.
"Such an embarrassing behaviour is alien to the South African Football Association and damages the good name of our association and country," he added.
"We do not want at any time to be associated with these scoundrels of society.
"Such people do not belong to the football family and once the investigations have been concluded, the police should send out a strong message against future perpetrators."
The Chief Executive Officer of next year's Africa Cup of Nations, Mvuzo Mbebe, also condemned the incident.
"We are disturbed by this incident which is totally an isolated one," he told the Safa website.
"South African fans do not behave like this and are known to take defeat in the good spirit.
"This country has hosted numerous international events and we have not experienced such a conduct."
Labels: FOOTBALL, POLITICAL VIOLENCE, SOUTH AFRICA
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Kalusha Bwalya didn’t play alone in the Zambian team, but he always made the difference and that is why he is the legend
Friday, 13 July 2012 21:36
While we haven’t been blessed with a magician like Messi, we still should thank the football gods that we have been given our own Musona and I’m pretty sure the South Afric-ans, if players were traded across national teams, would have used all their money in their Reserve Bank to buy Knowledge.
Nathaniel Manheru, my political cousin when it comes to blogs in this Saturday edition of The Herald, once made an interesting observation about how wars in today’s world are both fought in and shaped by, the media.
It also rings true about the boardroom battles that are fought endlessly in sport.
The media is a very powerful tool and, in the week that the BBC World Service moved from Bush House, after more than half-a-century of broadcasting from that London location, it’s clear its global influence remains as strong as it was when the first broadcast was made from those offices 70 years ago.
On Wednesday, a year-long battle fronted by the BBC to force Fifa to make public, documents from defunct marketing firm ISL, which they claimed showed improper conduct by senior Fifa officials, was won when the Swiss Supreme Court ordered the release of the material. ISL, a Swiss-based firm that used to be given lucrative marketing rights for the Fifa World Cup finals, collapsed under a huge mountain of debt of around US$300 million.
We now know that former Fifa president, Joao Havelange, who ruled the organisation for 24 years before handing the baton to his trusted lieutenant, Sepp Blatter, was paid huge sums in bribes by ISL. We now know that Havelange received about US$1.53 million and his counterpart, Ricardo Teixeira, who used to be his son-in-law and ran the Brazilian Football Federation for ages and was a Fifa executive committee member, received about US$13 million in kick-backs.
In November 2010, the BBC’s Panorama programme made the sensational claims that Havelange, Teixeira and Caf boss, Issa Hayatou, took bribes from ISL in the 1990s. No wonder the BBC were feeling triumphant this week as they celebrated the Swiss court’s decision to publicise details of the ISL transactions.
Apparently Havelange and Teixeira had paid back £3.6m as part of a deal to end the prosecution office’s investigation on condition their identities remained a secret. Interestingly, Jennings is banned from Fifa media conferences and official functions, since publishing an article in England’s Daily Mail newspaper on March 18, 2003, claiming that Blatter paid himself a US$4 million tax-free annual bonus from Fifa. Jennings claims Fifa meets all the definitions of a Mafia organisation, with an all-powerful don at the top, surrounded “by greedy crooks”, provision of “protection” and a code of “omerta” that silences any whistleblowers through exile.
German journalist, Jens Winreich, is also banned from Fifa media conferences and official functions because of his investigative work and claims that a single vote, during the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup finals, was being traded for US$20 million.
Jennings is winning his war with Fifa and the latest documentary dispatch from a Swiss court will be another huge setback in the organisation’s battle to try and portray itself as one that has moved away from a culture where dirty secret deals are the order of the day and accountability is an alien process that should be resisted at all costs. The British investigative journalist’s victory also brings refreshment to all the football writers in the trenches, who have been declared enemies of the game by their domestic football associations, simply because they chose to be critical and asked a lot of questions. If an organisation as huge and rich as Fifa can be battled, for the right for good to be separated from evil and beaten by the efforts of a journalist, as was the case in Switzerland this week, surely an organisation like Zifa can also be challenged if it veers off the path.
Of course, it comes at a cost, you don’t get invited to official Zifa functions, media conferences and, as my colleague Hope Chizuzu found out in Gaborone last year when he was working for Cosafa, they can also try to throw you out of a foreign country. But, as seen from the events in Switzerland this week, the little Davids of journalism can sometimes force the mighty and rich organisations running our football into submission and Jennings must be throwing a party somewhere in London right now.
The Monsters Within Us
What can’t be disputed is that in the past 28 months, the time this Zifa leadership has been in office, we have become deeply divided as a football family, split right in between and those who fear we could disintegrate even further are not dreaming.
Our football landscape has turned into one war zone, with endless battles fought just about every day, some big ones that shake the game and some small ones that disappear without a trace and the frightening thing is that there are no signs that it could all end soon. Militias have sprung into life, landmines have been planted just about everywhere, the language has become inflammatory, the atmosphere has turned hostile to such an extent that you can’t even trust someone, who used to be your friend, to hold your drink while you go to relieve yourself in a toilet.
IT’S NOW THEM OR US AND WE ARE ALL TO BLAME FOR THIS MADNESS.
IT’S NOT ZIFA’S FAULT ALONE, EVERYONE WHO HAS A PART TO PLAY IN OUR FOOTBALL IS AT FAULT AND BY THAT I ALSO INCLUDE MYSELF.
SUDDENLY, WE HAVE ALL BECOME MONSTERS, ALL THAT WE SEE IS THE NEED TO FIGHT EVEN WHEN THE CAUSE ISN’T KNOWN, ALL THAT WE SEE IS THE NEED TO OPPOSE EVEN WHEN THE OTHER PARTY IS RIGHT, ALL THAT WE SEE IS TO THE NEED TO CONDEMN EVEN IF THEY ARE MAKING SENSE AND ALL THAT WE SEE IS THE NEED TO ATTACK EVEN WHEN THEY ARE DOWN.
We somehow now see enemies where we used to see friends, we see monsters where we used to see models, we now see alien and hostile creatures where we used to see familiar and friendly faces, we now see an ocean of hopelessness were we used to see a river of hope.
We now see villains where we used to see brave hearts, we now see cowards where we used to see heroes, we now see destroyers where we used to see builders and we now see destruction where all that stood were structures that showed we were moving in a certain direction. We are all to blame and no one can say this side is more culpable because, as a football community, we have all played a part in taking our game to the tip of the cliff, where all that remains is a slight push to plunge us into the darkness where the chances of recovery would be somewhere between zero and zero point zero. We have all made this culture of hatred, culture of suspicion, culture of fights, culture of them and us, fashionable even when it has been clear, from the word go, that it wasn’t taking us anywhere and it drove a dagger into the heart of our 2012 Nations Cup campaign.
Knowledge Musona, our talismanic forward, walked away from the mess last week telling us that he was done with working in a poisoned environment where there were frightening possibilities his name and crucially his game, could suffer considerable damage if he kept dancing with the wolves.
Somehow, we can’t read the signs, as ominous as they are and we have been treating Musona’s announcement that he was walking away from international football, something unprecedented in the history of our game, as a non-event.
Surely, can we sit down with our little boys, who are in primary school today and are the future of this game and have a clear conscience, 20 years from now, to tell them that we decided silence was the best way to react when Musona walked away?
Can we tell each other, in all honesty, that Musona can go to hell and, because there are thousands of other forwards in this country, including Quarter Chicken, Terrence Mandaza, you name them, we can always find a way to score goals in our next assignments?
Can we sit down, with a clear mind and declare that Musona’s absence will certainly not be felt by the Warriors in the next few weeks and months and we base our argument on the fact he wasn’t there, when they began their journey in international football in 1980 and he won’t be there, when and where it all comes to an end?
Football, admittedly, is a game played by a team and there are 11 players who all play a part, with the defensive shield as important as the offensive part of the game, but it’s a game where individuals like Musona can make a huge difference.
With them in the side, it gives the team a certain edge, without them in the team, everything looks ordinary and that we didn’t score, in the two 2014 World Cup qualifiers that Musona failed to hit the target, isn’t a coincidence. That we qualified for the final qualifier of the 2013 Nations Cup finals, on the back of the two goals that Musona scored to give us the draw that won us the duel against Burundi on the away goals rule, isn’t also a coincidence.
That all the three goals we have scored away from home in competitive games in the 2012 and 2013 Nations Cup qualifiers, against Liberia, Cape Verde and Burundi, have all been scored by one man, Knowledge Musona, isn’t also a coincidence.
That’s quality and while we haven’t been blessed with a magician like Messi, we still should thank the football gods that we have been given our own Musona and I’m pretty sure the South Africans, if players were traded for national teams, would have used all their money in their Reserve Bank to buy Knowledge. Argentina will struggle without Messi, Portugal won’t be the same without Ronaldo, once Mario Gomez’s goals dried up, Germany’s promising 2012 Euro campaign fell flat and, if he keeps his focus, Mario Balotelli will be making a huge impact for Italy. Kalusha Bwalya didn’t play alone in the Zambian team, but he always made the difference and that is why he is the legend that the whole world remembers. Peter Ndlovu didn’t play alone in the Dream Team, but he was the talisman, the man who made the difference and when the going got tough, we all looked up to him, in hushed silence at the National Sports Stadium, hoping for one final explosion. And, usually, he delivered.
Musona hasn’t reached that level, but he is only 22 and is slowly working his way there because, before we quickly forget, Peter was 30, in 2003, when he finally led to the Warriors to their maiden appearance at the Nations Cup finals.
ZIMBABWE FOOTBALL IS CRYING OUT LOUDLY FOR PEACE, FOR UNITY, FOR LOVE, FOR CAMARADERIE, FOR WARMTH, FOR LEADERS WHO FORGIVE, FOR FANS WHO RESPECT THEIR LEADERS, FOR THE CREATION OF AN ENVIRONMENT THAT WILL REMOVE THE MONSTERS THAT HAVE REPLACED THE HUMANS THAT WE WERE A FEW MONTHS BACK.
Everyone should play their part because it’s the whole landscape that has been poisoned.
Sadly, it’s the game that suffers and the fans, who have been there for it all their life and will still be there when we have long left these leadership positions, who also bear the brunt.
Football And Controversy Are Siamese Twins
One of the things that you are guaranteed to have in football is controversy and if there are people out there who believe that it’s possible to have a controversy-free environment in this game, then they are leaving in dreamland and I can only offer them good luck.
Zifa loves sending documents and complaints to Fifa, in their battle to have a controversy-free football environment that they believe they can shape and tonnes of material have moved between Harare and Zurich in the past two years. But, interestingly, the same Fifa is always on the back foot, fighting endless battles in the boardrooms and courts, amid accusations of corruption within the very corridors of football’s world governing body.
It’s a classic case of investing all your trust, in a deaf guy, to give you a proper assessment of how much, the audio quality of a scratched Leonard Dembo CD, which was exposed to the sun, has been affected. Or, to put it mildly, asking Lovemore Matombo to be the arbitrator in a labour dispute centred on a leadership wrangle when he has failed to sort out similar challenges, on a personal level, for himself at the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions.
Only on Thursday, Blatter addressed the world, via the official Fifa website, telling us that he knew of the bribes that were paid to Havelange and Teixeira in the ‘90s by the disgraced marketing firm, ISL and, crucially, Fifa even paid US$2.77 million to a Swiss court as a condition to have criminal proceedings dropped. Blatter’s role, in the payment of that money to ensure a criminal probe into possible embezzlement by Havelange and Teixeira were dropped, could be key in terms of establishing whether he was part of a conspiracy and, for now, that hasn’t been addressed by either the court records or the Fifa boss.
That Blatter was Havelange’s right-hand man, for the 17 years that he worked as Fifa secretary-general while the Brazilian was the head of the organisation, certainly puts the Swiss in a very compromising position with regards this scandal.
Blatter has already conceded he was the senior Fifa figure, identified in the dossier as “P1”, who “would also have known” that a one-million Swiss francs payment from ISL to Havelange was mistakenly transferred into a Fifa account. Why, for all these controversies, does Blatter still remain Fifa president, why hasn’t he been asked or forced to step down, how does he continue to hang around and why will he, as it now appears, again weather this storm? These are BIG questions we should be asking ourselves in our football family.
If Blatter, for all the allegations he has faced, was one of us and a member of the Zifa board, what chances did he have to keep hanging around and, if the head of world football can be given the benefit of doubt, until proven guilty, why are the rules so different and drastic for our own people?
The Tribal Challenges We Face
One of the sickening things that have come out of our poisoned football environment is the emergence of tribal gangs and tribal warfare and nowhere is this cancer more pronounced than on the social media sites that have been converted into war zones.
Reading some of the material that is posted on those sites and some of the horrible arguments advanced by those who contribute to the debate, you are left wondering where really are we going as a nation. Surely, what has happened to the unity that made all of us embrace the Dream Team as our golden side, where its players were Zimbabweans first and Bosso or Saints or DeMbare next, where its skipper was our leader irrespective of which team he played for?
What has happened to the way the whole nation embraced Peter Ndlovu, as the greatest footballer of his generation in this country and a leader everyone was proud of, without really looking at his surname or where he came from? Why have our current football leaders given impetus to arguments that there are tribal wars that are being fought in the game, on a national level and they haven’t even taken an initiative to address this cancer or prove those who are peddling this myth wrong?
Why is it that when they dissolve the Zimbabwe Under-23 team technical department, as they did recently, the only member they leave in that coaching staff is Peter Nkomo, leaving themselves exposed to criticism from those who argue that this has turned into a tribal showdown? Why is it that despite the gravity of comments, which Rahman Gumbo is claimed to have made at a night club in Harare, reported on the Real Soccer website and discussed extensively on Facebook, Twitter and the NewZimbabwe.com forums, no one from Zifa has dared to address this disturbing issue? We haven’t heard anything from the association’s spin doctors, for all the brilliance of their wizardry, despite the sensitivity of this case and the aggravation that comes from the fact that it’s something reported to have been uttered not by an ordinary man, but the national coach of this country.
They could have done this by dismissing it with the contempt it deserves, if it’s all a heap of rubbish or a product of a reporter’s imagination so fertile he could even write that Caf have just ranked the Warriors as favourites to win the 2013 Nations Cup finals, even when their qualification for that showcase hasn’t yet been finalised. Or they could have clarified certain aspects of those quotes, if they were made in the first place and put a spin to them so that they don’t come out to mean the tribal nonsense that comes out of what Real Soccer reported and what is being discussed on the social media sites and on such news websites like New Zimbabwe.com.
Or better still, Rahman could have come out, given that this storm doesn’t seem to die down and continues to form the basis on which some people now judge what he does and what he doesn’t and addressed a media conference to put the record straight if the guys at Real Soccer misquoted him.
Given that the Real Soccer Editor, Shepherd Mandizvidza, is a man who is known, maybe Rahman could have launched a lawsuit, to buttress his claims, if he doesn’t agree with the story, that what they reported was hogwash and make them pay a price for defaming his good name by using those tribal innuendoes.
By keeping quiet both Rahman and Zifa are giving credibility to the claims.
John Terry needed the court to clear him that he wasn’t a racist and he didn’t make any racial insults, directed to Anton Ferdinand, as had been claimed. But the police were convinced that JT made those claims and that was why they charged him and the prosecution authority in England was also convinced there was a case against Terry and that was why they let the case go through the court proceedings.
The English FA was so convinced that Terry had skipped the line, in this racism row, they stripped him of the captaincy of the national team leading to the fallout that resulted in coach Fabio Capello leaving his job.
If Terry had kept quiet, and pretended as if nothing had happened and if the authorities in England had not taken action, it’s very likely that this racism thing would have stalked the Chelsea skipper for a long time.
But, thanks to the beauty of the wheels of justice, we now know that John Terry is not a racist or, even if he is, we now know that he didn’t racially abuse Anton Ferdinand.
Who knows, if Luis Suarez’s case against Patrice Evra had gone the entire justice process, maybe the little Uruguayan, who served a lengthy sentence outside football for that, would not have been so crucified and we would be looking at him in a different light right now.
Little Letter Of The Week
Hi Rob,
I feel there is need for the media to extensively cover the issue of tribalism, which seems unresolved in our football.
Is it really there? Is the delay to appoint a substantive coach for the Warriors being derailed by tribal elements? Is Norman Mapeza a victim of tribalism? Was (Nelson) Mazivisa expelled from FC Platinum on tribal grounds? Was partnering Yogi with Gumbo results centered or a classic tribal balance act? I could go on and on but the point remains there is more than what meets the eye – and certainly more than just simple football administration.
Nigel Nyamutumbu (Kabila)
Information Officer, Zimbabwe Union of Journalists
To God Be The Glory!
Come on United!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chicharitooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
l The only people mad at you for saying the truth are those living a lie. Keep saying it.
Text Feedback — 0772545199
Email — robsharuko@gmail.com
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Labels: FOOTBALL
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COMMENT - Corporate anti-racism seems the same to me as corporate anti-homophobia. It's the corporate part that is the problem.
Euro 2012: are Ukrainians still Untermenschen?
Brendan O’Neill
Monday 11 June 2012
Once, it was the ideology of racism that depicted the Slavs as an inferior people. Now the ideology of ‘anti-racism’ does the same thing. Isn’t there something uncomfortably familiar in the Western media hysteria about allegedly racist Ukraine?
In the run-up to the Euro 2012 football championships, which are taking place in Ukraine and Poland this month, we Western Europeans have been bombarded with media stories about how uncultured and uncouth Ukrainians in particular are.
In that strange Eastern land, ‘notorious for its extremist yobs’, stupid racial thinking is ‘socially endemic’, we are told, which isn’t surprising considering that, in the words of one British academic, Ukraine lacks the ‘cosmopolitan atmospheres’ of Western Europe. Something fantastically ironic is taking place here: under the banner of ‘anti-racism’, the presumed cultural superiority of Western Europe over backward, brutal Slavs is being loudly asserted, just as the racial superiority of Western Europe was asserted over the Slavs in the past.
For the past two weeks, you couldn’t open a British newspaper or switch on the radio without reading/hearing titillating tales about what a peculiar and prejudiced people the Ukrainians are. Virtually every tabloid has sent a reporter to that wild Eastern land, where they have encountered weird men in forests being ‘drilled in unarmed combat, knife-fighting and use of rifles and pistols’ so that they can ‘wreak havoc’ during Euro 2012. Under the headline ‘Anarchy in the Ukraine’, the Sun, putting on its best Victorian colonialist voice, told us it had found numerous ‘thugs’ amid the ‘ruined buildings and weed-covered parade grounds’ of Ukraine, who are putting the finishing touches to their plans to ‘fight our fans’.
And the problem isn’t just a few Nazi wannabes. Western observers constantly tell us that racism is sewn into the social fabric of Ukraine; it is a part of Ukrainian culture. It is ‘an endemic social problem’, said the director of the Football Supporters’ Federation. There is ‘endemic racism’ said the Daily Mail. (It is worth noting that ‘endemic’ is most often used to describe a disease that is prevalent among a particular people. That is just how racism in Ukraine is viewed: a malady, a virus, which infects the whole population.) The real problem, says one respectable commentator, is ‘Ukraine’s messed-up ethnic dynamics’, which means all non-white attendees of Euro 2012 are ‘at risk for racial targeting’. In a BBC documentary heavy on hysteria and light on facts, former England player Sol Campbell said black and Asian England fans should think twice before going to Ukraine, because ‘you could end up coming back in a coffin’.
Deeply ironically - indeed, disturbingly so - the thread running through all this Ukraine-slating commentary is that They, the unenlightened Slavs, are inferior to Us, the racially aware West. So one British sports academic, in a report for the London School of Economics, said the reason ‘racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism’ are so widespread in Ukraine is because that country has a ‘limited history of… multiculture’. Where us Western Europeans have embraced multiculturalism, and in the process created ‘cosmopolitan atmospheres’, Ukraine apparently remains a scarily monocultural society, with its ‘overt display and celebrating of white supremacist iconography’.
No wonder UEFA is helping to transport anti-racist officials and activists from around Europe to Ukraine, where they plan to run a campaign called ‘Respect Diversity’ designed to teach Ukrainians that ‘football can be used as a tool for social acceptance, integration and the promotion of multiculturalism’. The UEFA-backed campaign aims ‘not only [to] minimise incidents of racist behaviour’ in Ukrainian stadiums, but also ‘to leave a lasting legacy beyond 2012’. That is, it is about delivering Ukraine from childish ignorance. Echoing the Bible-bashers who once went to Africa to open the eyes of strange tribes to The Truth, Euro 2012 is being turned into an opportunity for decent Western Europeans to bring the gospel of multiculturalism to the ‘thugs’ in Slavic parts of Europe.
The media treatment of Ukraine as a strange place inhabited by peoples less sussed and less cultured than us echoes the way Slavs have long been viewed by Western elitists. As one study of Western attitudes says, there has been a tendency to look upon the Slav, particularly the Slav of the Ukrainian variety, as ‘a comic or uncouth personage, unworthy of elevation’ (1). In his classic eighteenth-century study of the Fall of Rome, Edward Gibbon promoted the then widely accepted idea that Slavic people were ‘racially inferior’, particularly to the Germans, in the sense that they were ‘less lofty, less fair’ (2). The idea that Slavs are ‘uncouth’, and ‘less lofty’ than Western Europeans, is now being rehabilitated under the guise, bizarrely, of anti-racism.
Anti-Slav sentiment was most pronounced under the Nazis, of course. To the Nazis, Slavs were Untermenschen (subhumans), racially and culturally inferior to the Aryan race. One of the key components of Nazi propaganda on the Slavic people was the idea that Slavs’ ignorance meant they were incapable of governing themselves. Their ‘hereditary racial inferiority incapacitated them for state building’; they were ‘incapable of organising a state or developing a culture’ (3). And so it fell to the Nazis to rule over these barbaric peoples, and eventually to annihilate them, like the Jews, since they were part of Eastern Europe’s surplus population.
Of course, the Euro 2012 racism panic merchants, for all their non-stop scare stories about crazy Ukrainians, are not Nazis or fascists and are not proposing to invade Slavic lands, far less to enslave or kill their inhabitants. But the current cultural assault on Ukraine and elsewhere in Eastern Europe does echo, sometimes explicitly, sometimes faintly, earlier instances of anti-Slav sentiment. In the idea that the Ukrainians have failed to create a satisfactory political culture, and therefore need Western academics, UEFA officials and the European Union itself to educate them about the importance of ‘social acceptance’ and ‘integration’, we can see the rehabilitation of the old idea that Slavs are incapable of ‘developing a culture’, certainly not without the input of enlightened Westerners.
What the great Ukraine racism panic reveals is the extent to which official anti-racism has replaced racism as the means through which the elite asserts its authority over allegedly backward peoples. Where once the ideology of racism was used to depict Slavs as inferior, now the ideology of ‘anti-racism’ is used to do something frighteningly similar. The only difference is that where earlier generations of Western elitists argued that Slavs were racially inferior, today’s elitists claim they are culturally inferior, that there is an endemic cultural problem rather than a hereditary problem. Yet all that this reveals is that, in an era when racial thinking has been well and truly discredited, talk of problematic ‘cultural traits’ has replaced talk of backward ‘racial traits’ as the preferred method of asserting one’s moral authority over strange, uneducated tribes Over There. Today, weirdly, a people like the Ukrainians is branded inferior not because of its racial traits but because of its alleged racialist thinking.
Here in Britain, we have already witnessed the use of the new ideology of official ‘anti-racism’ to depict working-class communities, particularly those who follow football, as culturally inferior to the elite. Indeed, often under the banner of ‘anti-racism’, observers have, again ironically, described white working-class football fans as ‘hollering like apes’, being ‘primitive and tribal’, and behaving like ‘Pavlov’s foaming dogs’. Now, such racially tinged ‘anti-racism’ is being deployed on an international level, with Western observers looking down their noses at insufficiently PC, uncultured Easterners. One possible end result of this relentless cultural assault on Eastern Europeans, the depiction of them as racist lowlifes and savages, is that they will respond in kind, kicking against their Western haters by causing some trouble for Euro 2012.
Brendan O’Neill is editor of spiked. Visit his personal website here.
Labels: FOOTBALL, RACISM
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Zambia's approach exposes ZIFA
Friday, 10 February 2012 20:12
The Zambians have shown us the way and you get a feeling that the biggest problem with our football, in terms of its national management structures, is the recycling of leadership, the majority of it being deadwood. Somehow this feels like '94 and you don't have to be a Zambian to be swept away by the tide of nostalgia that has turned 2012 into a carbon copy of 1994.
Just like in ‘94, Zambia are in the final of the Nations Cup after capping a good tournament with a stunning 1-0 semi-final victory over the Black Stars of Ghana on Wednesday night.
Just like in ‘94, the Zambians eliminated a West African football powerhouse, in the semi-finals, and while it was Ghana on Wednesday night, it was Cote d'Ivoire who were beaten by Chipolopolo at the same stage of the competition 18 years ago.
And, just like in ‘94, the margin of the semi-final victory for the Zambians was 1-0.
Chillingly, the goal that made all the difference for the Zambians, in the semi-finals of the ‘94 and 2002 Nations Cup, came at exactly the same time.
Kenneth "Bubble" Malitoli scored the goal that knocked out Cote d'Ivoire and swept Zambia into the ‘94 Nations Cup final in the 78th minute.
Emmanuel Mayuka scored the priceless goal that knocked out Ghana and swept Zambia into the 2012 Nations Cup finals in the 78th minute.
Incredibly, Kalusha Bwalya's goal, which gave Zambia a 1-1 draw against Zimbabwe at the National Sports Stadium for the ticket to the ‘94 Nations Cup finals, had come in the 78th minute.
Just like in ‘94, Zambia will face West African opposition in the final of the Nations Cup and, after losing 1-2 to Nigeria in Tunisia, they face the might of the Ivorians in the final of the 2012 tournament in Libreville, Gabon, tomorrow.
And, as fate might have it, the Ivorians - just like the Nigerians in ‘94 - will be chasing their second Nations Cup silverware.
Just like in ‘94, Mali will play in the third-place play-off the Nations Cup and, after having lost 1-3 to Cote d'Ivoire for the bronze medal in Tunisia, the Eagles now have to beat Ghana to take home something from a tournament where they have generally impressed.
In ‘94, the last four places in the Nations Cup finals were taken by three West Africans - Nigeria, Mali and Cote d'Ivoire, with Zambia gate-crashing the party.
In 2012, the last four places in the Nations Cup finals were taken by three West Africans - Mali, Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana, with Zambia gate-crashing the party.
Well, different people remember ‘94 for different reasons.
It was the year South Africa held its first full multi-racial elections, bringing a close to the sad chapter of apartheid, and Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as the first black President of the Rainbow Nation.
The plane carrying Rwandan President, Juvenal Habyarimana and his Burundi counterpart, Cyprien Ntaryamiradie, was shot down, near Kigali on April 7, ‘94 and, the following day, the Rwanda genocide began.
Matt Busby, the great Scotsman who survived a plane crash in Munich in ‘58 that decimated his Manchester United squad, before using his coaching brilliance to shape the Red Devils into a team that would be crowned European champions 10 years later, died in ‘94.
The world didn't know it then but a boy born in Canada, named Justin Bieber, would in a few years turn into one of the biggest teen pop sensations of our time.
Kalusha will probably not say it, for now until the game is over tomorrow, but this feels like ‘94 all over again and, hopefully, this time, it will end with the Zambians celebrating.
After the ‘94 Nations Cup finals, the football festival moved to South Africa who hosted the tourney in ‘96. After the 2012 Nations Cup finals, the football festival will move again to South Africa for the 2013 tournament.
Feels Like ‘94 Here In Zimbabwe
Even here in Zimbabwe, you get that feeling that it feels like ‘94 all over again.
Dynamos were league champions in ‘94 and they are league champions right now.
There was chaos in the Division One league at the start of the ‘94 domestic Premiership season with Rufaro Rovers and United FC fighting a fierce boardroom battle for the right to play in the top-flight league.
There is chaos in the Division One leagues right now with fierce boardroom battles, for the right to play in the Premiership, having erupted between Harare City and Dstv and Tripple B and Hardbody.
In ‘94, there was chaos, too, in the Warriors' coaching department.
Caf had handed a one-year ban to Reinhard Fabisch, for bringing the game of football into disrepute, after waving a number of American bank notes at the referee, in a mock illustration that he had been bribed, following the Warriors' 1-3 loss to Cameroon in a World Cup qualifier in Yaounde.
In 2012 you get a feeling there is chaos in the Warriors' coaching department.
Zifa have ordered Norman Mapeza to step aside from the 2013 Nations Cup qualifier against Burundi on the basis that he has to clear his name first against charges that he was bribed by Asian betting syndicates when he led the Warriors in the 2010 Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup.
We missed the ‘94 Nations Cup finals when we failed to win the last qualifier, against the Zambians, at home with Kalusha's late equaliser giving Chipolopolo the point they needed, in a 1-1 draw, to go to Tunisia.
We missed the 2012 Nations Cup finals when we failed to win the last qualifier, against Cape Verde, in Praia, when a victory there would have given us the ticket to Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.
In ‘94, we were talking about what would have been, talking about Peter Ndlovu and still going crazy about how he slalomed past the entire Bafana Bafana defence to score one of the greatest goals that will ever grace the African football fields in an emphatic 4-1 victory for us.
In 2012 we are talking about Peter Ndlovu and all the great expectations we have for him now that he has taken the first step in a journey that should ultimately take him into the seat, like Kalusha, of coaching the senior national football team he captained with distinction.
In ‘94, all we could do was imagine about what could have been had our boys made that one final leap and qualified for the Nations Cup finals and, as part of the discussions, Rahman Gumbo's crucial goals against Bafana Bafana and Mauritius featured prominently.
In 2012, we are talking about Rahman Gumbo given that, after years of expatriate service in Malawi and Botswana, he has not only returned home but has once again been handed the baton to lead his country's senior national football team.
The Dream Team that battled for the ‘94 Nations Cup and ‘94 World Cup finals did not qualify for any of those tournaments and, to a lot of critics with short memories, that failure robbed them of greatness.
To those critics, the real great Warriors sides are the ones that qualified for the 2004 and 2006 Nations Cup finals.
Yes, in football it's achievements that define greatness but, to me, the Dream Team that battled in the ‘94 Nations Cup and ‘94 World Cup finals was the greatest collection of Warriors that we have ever assembled.
They failed in their mission, regrettably, but there was honour in their failure.
They finished the qualifiers of the ‘94 Nations Cup finals without losing even a single game in six matches with away games in Zambia, South Africa and Mauritius.
They came within 90 minutes of qualifying for the ‘94 World Cup finals and, in the process, they took a cool four points off heavyweights Egypt and beat both Cameroon and Guinea.
They were unbeaten by the Zambians in 180 minutes, in Harare and in Lusaka, and that same Chipolopolo team went all the way to reach the final of the Nations Cup finals in ‘94 in Tunisia.
Take a bow, Reinhard Fabisch and his Dream Team because, while they might not have made the final leap, they were the greatest we ever had.
The 2012 Nations Cup In A Zim Context
What did we learn from the 2012 Nations Cup finals?
The big message, for me, was that our Warriors, for all the character assassination they have suffered at the hands of this devilish Zifa board, are as good as any team on the continent.
My main interest, as the tournament progressed, was focused on Mali and I was impressed with the way the Eagles performed in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, going all the way to the semi-finals, and finally losing to Cote d'Ivoire 0-1 in a tight semi.
In the end, in that game against Didier Drogba and his high-profile teammates, anything could have happened and the line that divided the winners and the losers was very thin.
Solid in defence, mobile in midfield and with a bite in attack where the gangly Cheikh Diakite proved a handful to many a defence, Mali were impressive throughout the tourney.
In the quarter-final against Gabon, they refused to be intimidated by that partisan home crowd, which included a national President who had been so charmed by his team's performance he became a permanent feature at their matches.
They recovered from a shaky start and, even after they fell a goal down, they did not fall apart as they used their strong character to rebuild their mission and, in the closing stages of the game, they were rewarded with the equaliser they deserved.
They could have won it, at the very end, but Seydou Keita miscued his effort, from close range, way over the bar.
Somehow, in that intimidating and hostile atmosphere, the Malians held their nerve in the penalty shootout drama and converted all their five spot kicks.
It's the same Malian team that we played over two legs in the same qualifiers for the 2012 Nations Cup finals and, in 180 minutes, there was very little to choose between them and us.
They beat us 0-1 in Bamako and, once again, our preparations for that match were chaotic and we never knew when we were going, with the trip hanging in the balance, until Cuthbert Dube took the title deeds of his house to the bank to secure a loan to fund the flight.
Diakite scored the only goal of the match but we gave as much as we got in that encounter and the Zimbabwe journalists who covered that game came back wondering how we didn't get a penalty when Nyasha Mushekwi was pulled down inside the box.
Injury had ruled Knowledge Musona out of that game, which was a big blow for us, considering that our talisman had supplied the bulk of goals for the Warriors.
But, with Musona back in the fold in Harare, we took the game to the defensive Malians and Khama Billiat's strike should have stood rather than disallowed for an off-side that never was.
With Ovidy Karuru playing his best game for the Warriors in a free midfield role, in which he kept cutting inside from the right, we duly got the breakthrough when Ovidy fed Musona and Knowledge lifted the ball home for the first goal.
The plucky Malians equalised but our defence was to blame for giving them a soft goal. But to the Warriors' credit, they didn't throw in the towel, even as time tormented their campaign and a draw, which would have meant elimination, turned into the most likely result.
We got our due rewards, Ovidy was fouled and Musona took the spot-kick, not once, but twice, and the Warriors powered to a 2-1 win that kept alive their Nations Cup campaign.
In back-to-back matches against the Malians, we scored two goals and conceded two goals, which means there was very little to choose between us.
Now, if that same Mali team is good enough to qualify for the semi-finals of the 2012 Nations Cup, what does that say about the strength of our team?
We have the players, no doubt about that, but we are weighed down by a plethora of issues and rather than concentrate on the game, we concentrate on individuals, we try to settle scores, we treat our players with disdain, we have the worst possible preparations by any team and, in the end, we shoot ourselves in the foot.
Will King Peter Turn Into Our Kalusha?
Kalusha Bwalya has worked wonders for Zambian football since he exploded on the scene at the ‘88 Olympic Games in Seoul and scored twice as Chipolopolo shocked the world with a stunning 4-1 victory over Italy.
He has always been the Prince of Zambian football.
As a player he represented greatness in that national team jersey and, when disaster struck off the coast of Gabon and he was not wiped away in that plane crash, Kalusha became the symbol of defiance that helped reshape the Zambian national team into a competitive unit again.
He kept leading from the front and, usually, when all hope seemed lost, the Zambians would turn to King Kalu for salvation.
And, more often than not, he used to deliver.
Rewind to Harare, the National Sports Stadium, the final ‘94 Nations Cup qualifier, freeze the moment, 12 minutes left in the game, we are leading by a goal scored by Henry "Bully" McKop, we have struck the bar and we have the momentum.
The Zambians look shell-shocked, time is not on their side, the noise has died in the bay that is housing their fans and the National Sports Stadium is going hysterical with the Yave Nyama Yekugocha song.
You can feel this is the moment, all that we have been waiting for 13 years, everything crystalised in that one magical moment and you feel time flying away, taking you closer to your date with destiny.
The Zambians know that only Kalusha can save them, they expect him to do something special, something that he has never done before and that's exactly what he did.
Cometh the hour, cometh the hero!
Kalusha glanced the ball past ‘keeper Bruce Grobbelaar, his first headed goal in international football, and the Zambians were on their way to Tunisia.
King Kalu has coached Chipolopolo and is now the Football Association of Zambia President, and the national team brand has been revived. After the Zambians made it to the quarter-finals in Angola, they are now in the finals in Gabon.
Peter Ndlovu is the greatest Warrior to wear the gold and green jersey of the senior national team and, just like the Zambians, who always looked to King Kalu to deliver something special when push came to shove, we always looked to King Peter.
A decorated Warrior who emerged from leading the Dream Team attack to become the captain of his country, taking the Warriors to the Nations Cup finals in Tunisia and Egypt, King Peter has seen it all, and done it all, on the playing field.
On Monday, he was handed his first coaching role in the national teams' set-up when Zifa appointed him the coach of the Under-23 national team.
Granted, this team always has very little action and, with the All-Africa Games gone for another four years and the Olympics not coming back, after London, until four years from now, it will largely be a docile team with very little competitions.
I guess Peter will be drafted into the senior team, as one of Rahman Gumbo's assistants for the Burundi tie, and he will have a permanent slot in that technical team, as one of the assistants, when a substantive line-up is unveiled.
Peter has a lot to learn, as a coach, and I understand the frustrations that are coming from the camp that is questioning his credentials to hold such a post because they have never seen him tested at any level of coaching in his life.
But there has to be a starting point all the time and, who knows, maybe Peter could turn into the super coach that we have been waiting for all this time.
I have the ultimate respect for Peter Ndlovu and I sincerely hope that he is a success story in anything he does because he was a unique football talent, a man I was proud to call my captain, and we were lucky that he was born in Bulawayo and not in Lusaka.
I have also had this feeling that Peter will, one day, be a big part of the Warriors, as a coach, and while that might take some time, you feel he has been put in the right place and what is left is for him to develop.
Hopefully, with time, King Peter will be our version of King Kalu and he will not stop only at coaching the national team but, one day, take control of Zifa as its president.
The Zambians have shown us the way and you get a feeling that the biggest problem with our football, in terms of its national management structures, is the recycling of leadership, the majority of it being deadwood.
While the Zambians have embraced the future and taken in young blood that is helping them take huge steps forward, we are still stuck with leaders who were in charge of the same game when Knowledge Musona had not yet been born.
The majority of them still live in the past, allergic to embracing the changes happening in the game, and most of them have a lot of old scores to settle they spend four years just doing that whenever they are plucked back from obscurity and into national prominence.
Spare A Thought For Norman
Norman Mapeza must be wondering what the hell he put himself into when he accepted the offer to lead his national team after Sunday Chidzambwa had quit.
He lost a board vote, when Madinda was still around, 2-9, to head the team, which meant nine board members did not believe in him.
He was given a makeshift team to take to the Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup and now stands accused of having been bribed with US$1 000 to rig a Warriors' match.
For a man, one of the few in our game, who invested his fortune from a playing career wisely and built himself a mansion, the accusations must be baffling and he finds himself accused of having been sent to the wrong place at the wrong time.
But they say time is a healer and, incredibly, the amount of sympathy that is pouring towards Mapeza, through text messages being sent to this newspaper and online, is touching.
Even if he clears his name, in an environment that has been so poisoned doing so will be tantamount to moving a mountain, Norman should just quit.
There is no point for him to continue working with this board.
Come on United!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chicharitooooooooooooooooooooooooo
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
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Labels: FOOTBALL, ZAMBIA, ZIFA
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Response to Zambian Victory from around the world
TIME PUBLISHED - Thursday, February 16, 2012, 12:00 pm
Zambian soccer victory – an Israeli reponse
My enthusiastic congratulations on a magnificent vicory from an Israeli fan. Your team was disicplined, fit, creative and in brief,looked like champs and played like champs. You deserved to win -inspite of that heart stopping penalty that Drogma very conveniently kicked wide.
A fitting monument to the memory of the players who died in the tragic plane crash – and a brilliant example to Zambian youth who will learn from the dedication and hard work of the team that must have preceded this victory.
Keep it up Zambia
R.Melmed
Congrats from the U.K
Congratulations from the UK to the Zambia national team on their win.
This old expat is proud of of you!
C.Pass
Congratulations from Ireland
I wish to congratulate the Zambian Team on its great victory. All the players were magnificent. The were calm,professional and skilful.It was indeed a wonderful victory for the whole country. I feel very proud of Zambia today.
John Macnamara, Dublin, Ireland (First Headmaster of St. Clement’s Secondary School in Mansa, Luapula Province 1964.)
From Mirror Football UK
From South Africa winning the Rugby World Cup in 1995 to a Roger Milla-inspired Cameroon in Italia ’90, Africa has provided some the iconic moments in recent sporting history. Without doubt, the achievements of Zambia on Sunday night in winning the Africa Cup of Nations will be added to that list.
Thanks to the power of Twitter and Facebook, this was not only the most-watched Cup of Nations ever but also the most commented upon. When Sunday’s final entered its penalty shoot-out, social media networks were ablaze with people sharing their opinions on the likes of Chris Katongo and Rainford Kalaba. This Zambia team had a story to tell and people were listening to their inspiring message.
From the Sowetan
They represented Southern Africa with aplomb and duly made us proud. Every time a team from these shores beats anyone from west Africa, yours truly celebrates.
It was even sweeter because one very arrogant west African so-called football pundit had predicted a 4-0 pasting for the Copper Bullets by the the Didier Drogba and Yaya Toure-led Ivorians. He shall, as of now hopefully, forever keep his peace.
From Washinton Post
Many attributed the victory to an amazing team spirit from a crew that fielded only one international player.
Zambia were the underrated underdogs at the African tournament, much like their country, which boasts a thriving democracy, a less-traveled destination for African wildlife and the spectacular Victoria Falls — along with a booming copper industry that recently catapulted the country to the status of lower middle-income.
From Nigerian Former Head of State
“I am saddened by the absence of Nigeria but the message the Eagles have to derive from the Zambians is that one has to love his country and not put money first. Football is all about commitment and fighting spirit. Zambia played their hearts out for their nation in honour of their colleagues. Though many people felt that they would be overrun by the Ivoriens, I told a lawyer friend of mine that from what I saw of them in two or three matches, I said I have confidence they would give any team in Africa a run for their money.”
From the New York Times
In Zambia, a nation where soccer has always had a deep meaning for people, Stoppila Sunzu’s winning penalty late in the shootout set off wild celebrations.
Car horns and vuvuzelas blasted throughout the night in the capital of Lusaka, fans cloaked in the green and copper colors of the national team streamed into streets around the country, and schools closed for a self-declared national holiday.
From News Day Zimbabwe
The success by Zambia in the just-ended African Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea serves as a big lesson for the disorganised Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) in many ways.
Chipolopolo on Sunday made history by becoming the second southern African country to win the African Cup of Nations after South Africa in 1996. Zambia beat favourites Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties after a 0-0 draw in 120 minutes.
South Africa won it at home, but Zambias victory is unique in that they won it away from home and it was a fitting tribute to members of the Zambian side who tragically perished in the ocean off Gabon in 1993.
From Mmegi Botswana
You see the Zambians represent my ideal team with limited resources. They are neither huge nor tall, but are as frail as Botswana players but hey they pack a lot of surprises.
They are swift when attacking; an obvious sign that they are playing to their strength and body structure. This is what I want to see happening with the Zebras….
Zambia has definitely shown us the way. Equally even the premier league in Zambia is no different from our league, but the team has shown us a trick or two.
From Nyatimes in Malawi
“This has given FAM hope that in football,success can be achieved if
you are committed,dedicated,have good tactics and are hard working.
Zambia who are our brothers have given us the courage that you do not
have to fear names but have self belief,” Nyirenda says in the
statement.
Zambian Victory celebrated in Qatar
In Qatar Senior management of Abdullah Abdulghani & Brother, The Holding Company of Toyota & Lexus Qatar,congratulated Zambia by placing Zambian Flags at their Head Office in Honor of the Victory and Fallen Zambian Heroes. Toyota & Lexus Qatar is the official sponsor of the Football QSL (Qatar Super League).
Labels: FOOTBALL
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Libreville's high prices stun Chipolopolo fans
By Bivan Saluseki in Libreville, Gabon
Wed 15 Feb. 2012, 11:59 CAT
HUNDREDS of soccer fans that travelled to Libreville to cheer the Chipolopolo Boys were on Sunday left stunned by the exorbitant prices of food, drinks and accommodation in the Gabonese capital.
Libreville is ranked the third most expensive city in Africa after Luanda in Angola and N'Djamena in Chad and comfortably takes the 12th slot on the list of the most expensive cities in the world.
According to Mercer's 2011 Cost of Living Survey, Luanda is the world's most expensive city with Tokyo coming second and N'Djamena in third place. Moscow follows in fourth position with Geneva in fifth and Osaka in sixth. Zurich ranks seventh, Singapore eight, while Hong Kong is ninth, Sao Paulo tenth, Nagoya eleventh and Libreville takes the twelfth slot, with the least expensive cities in the region being Tunis and Addis Ababa.
Gabonese in Libreville tried to cash in on the foreign nationals that had poured in to watch the Africa Cup final between Ivory Coast and Zambia.
A plate of chicken and chips, which usually costs as low as K11,000 in Zambia, was costing above US$40 (K200,000) while a soda was way above US$10 (K50,000) even in third rate and backyard eateries.
Alligator delicacies cost a staggering US$ 50 per plate and very few opted for the dish.
The soccer fans that wanted to have the luxuries of a beer had to painfully part with US$20 (K100,000) for a bottle of Heineken.
The highly-pegged prices of alcoholic beverages, though, could not deter many a Zambian soccer fan that drank the night away in celebration after their soccer team's victory.
The limited accommodation and the high prices meant that most of the fans that remained in Libreville opted to wind the clock by drinking the night away.
There was an increase, too, in accommodation charges with unrated guesthouses charging as much as US$400 (K2 million) per room.
Earlier on Saturday, there were chaotic scenes at Leon M'ba International Airport's Visa Section where two planes carrying the soccer fans landed in succession.
The Gabonese authorities struggled, albeit in a clumsy way, to handle the pressure from the jubilant fans, earlier buoyed by the team's performance.
The first expense to hit the fans pocket was the visa fee pegged at US $60 and most of them, seemingly unprepared for the amount, were however not deterred.
Hundreds of them braved the rains to watch the national team win the Africa Cup.
President Ali Bongo Ondimba's Gabon has been under an ambitious economic and social reforms programme although his father's iron fist on the country is still visible from the security apparatus in a country with very large natural gas deposits currently estimated at over 39 billion cubic metres.
Critics said Ondimba's late father Omar Bongo used revenues from Gabon's 2.5 billion barrels of oil reserves to guarantee his grip on power. They also claim that Omar Bongo carefully allowed just enough oil money to trickle down to the general population of 1.4 million.
Labels: FOOTBALL, GABON, INFLATION
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Sata counsels his champions
By Prudence Phiri
Wed 15 Feb. 2012, 12:00 CAT
PRESIDENT Michael Sata has warned the national soccer team against complacency and says they should defend the Africa Cup of Nations title next year. And government has promised to consider giving houses to all the players that won the AfCON.
Meanwhile the accumulative amount given to each player by government is US$ 59,000 (US$ 10,000 for reaching quarter finals, US$ 13,000 for reaching the semi final, US$ 16,000 for reaching the final and US$ 20,000 for winning the AFCON).
Speaking during the luncheon held for the national soccer team for their AFCON victory at State House yesterday, President Sata said winning the AfCON was the beginning of hard work for the national team.
"For you the national team, don't be complacent. It's just the beginning for you, don't oversleep. It's time to work hard. It will be more painful to be defeated," said President Sata.
President Sata thanked coach Herve Renard and the corporate world for the support rendered to the national team during the AfCON campaign.
"We are grateful to coach Herve Renard, thank you to the corporate world, our all-weather friends the Chinese, Mopani and KCM."
And captain Christopher Katongo wondered why no corporate entity had pledged any houses for the team, prompting local government minister Professor Nkandu Luo to promise the team that the government would look into the matter.
"The government has heard your plea. This pride to Zambia got us thinking and I can assure you that your statement is receiving active attention and as the minster responsible for land, I will ensure all procedure is followed," Prof Luo said.
Sports minister Chishimba Kambwili said the reception that the team received on Monday was a clear indication that sport was a unifying factor.
He urged the corporate community to help revamp sports infrastructure in the country.
And MTN Zambia has pledged K200 million to the national team and K1 billion for the local league.
Zesco pledged K100 million to the team while Zhongui Mining Company pledged US$100,000, with Zamtel pledging a 29 -seater bus.
Zambeef pledged K200 million with Railway Systems of Zambia pledging K 360 million and First Quantum Minerals pledging US$50,000 towards the national team.
FQM have also pledged to engrave the names of the national soccer team that perished in the Gabon disaster in 1993 at the Independence Stadium being constructed and also engrave the national soccer team that has just won the AfCON title, in gold.
Meanwhile, the team handed over the AfCON trophy to the President.
Labels: FOOTBALL, MICHAEL SATA
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We've the right to celebrate but let's do it with civility
By The Post
Tue 14 Feb. 2012, 12:00 CAT
A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out of the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation finds utterance.On Sunday night, as far as soccer is concerned, we ended a period of ill-fortune and Zambia discovered herself again as one of Africa's top soccer nations.
The achievement of our national soccer team that we celebrate today should be but a step, an opening of opportunity, to the greater triumphs and achievements that should await us. Are we brave enough and wise enough to grasp this opportunity and accept the challenge of the future, of being champions?
Being the African champions brings responsibilities and burdens which we have to face in the spirit of a disciplined people.
The attention of the world is today on us, on our soccer team and on how we celebrate this victory. Our soccer stars behaved very well on the pitch and indiscipline was not tolerated in their camp throughout the tournament. Those who did not meet the standards of discipline required were excluded from the team and sent back.
Our team has won us respect. And let us not allow, in any way, that respect of the world which we have won so fast to be equally lost through indiscipline and criminal behaviour. Victory without discipline or civility means nothing and will take us nowhere. Even in victory, respect for others and their lives has to be observed.
There are people who since Sunday night have been in a lawless mode. They have not been respecting traffic laws and rules. They have been trespassing everywhere; they have been drinking endlessly but still driving. Very valuable lives have been lost in the process through road traffic and other accidents; some people have been injured or maimed; people's property has been damaged.
And while others are celebrating, thieves, criminal elements have been housebreaking. People have lost their property.
For some people, this happy occasion has been turned into time for mourning, into a very sad experience. This is not the way to live; this is not the way to celebrate. We should not allow these thugs to spoil our celebrations, our soccer victory.
We should not allow criminals to take over these celebrations and rule us. And an ancient script asks, "Would you let a man rule the city who cannot even rule his own spirit?" Sometimes we do. We must not allow these criminals to steal away any chance we might have for future celebrations of this nature.
It is said that the greatest form of maturity is at harvest time. That is when we must learn how to reap with discipline if the amounts are small and how to reap without chaos if the amounts are big.
Crime must be brought under control. Criminals cannot go round masquerading as Zambian soccer fans, as Chipolopolo supporters harassing innocent people, causing accidents and destroying other people's property. These rogues should have no place in the victory celebrations. Victory without civility, victory without respect for others, is no victory at all.
This is an historic moment for Zambia. We have been participating in the Africa Cup for many years. We have been at the Africa Cup finals twice before. And it is only this year that we became the champions, that we won this cup. This is our historic moment. Our time has come. But let's show respect and tolerance to others. Let's demand zero-tolerance on crime. And let us not allow criminals to hide behind our celebrations, behind this glorious occasion.
Let us not allow criminals to think they can commit a crime under the banner of victory celebrations and get away with it, and carry on being criminals. Let us tackle anti-social behaviours.
This victory is nothing without order and justice. We can only continue to rise to higher heights if there is order and justice in the nation. Lose either one and we come crashing down until we are just another average soccer nation which even the weakest team will beat.
Our lads showed great strength of character during the whole tournament and pulled together to win the cup. This speaks volumes about the need for discipline. Let us make the good that is in the heart of each one of us serve the good of all us. Let us give our country the gift of our energy, our ideas, our hopes, our talents.
Let us use them to build a country that will not only be great at soccer but at everything that makes life better and that makes us better human beings. If we do, we will be unbeatable - we will save every penalty. Some may say this is dreaming, it can't be achieved.
We shouldn't forget that many were saying that before the start of the tournament in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. But our boys simply said "don't kubeba" every time they scored. We have been through this type of thing before - and not very long ago. A few months ago, some people believed Rupiah Banda's corrupt and intolerant regime could not be moved out of power, could not be defeated in an election.
Again, our people simply said "don't kubeba" and Rupiah was left crying when the elections ended in the same way the Cote d' Ivoire were left crying on Sunday at the end of the penalty shoot-out. The chains of mediocrity have been broken and we are the African soccer champions. Zambia is today an exciting, inspiring place to be.
And it can be much more if we remain disciplined and orderly. There is a quiet revolution taking place in Zambia today. Many things are changing - including in soccer. We are increasingly becoming a people of high standards and ideals and hard choices.
It has been a very long time waiting for this moment and today we feel deeply proud as a nation to be the African soccer champions. We have made history. And let our first thanks go to the players themselves and the coaching staff. They have kept faith with us. And we will keep faith with them. Let's celebrate our victory.
And we have every right to celebrate. But let's keep crime and criminals out of these celebrations.
Labels: FOOTBALL
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Job well done - Sata
By Staff reporters
Tue 14 Feb. 2012, 13:00 CAT
IT is a job well done, President Michael Sata told Chipolopolo boys yesterday. And Dr Kenneth Kaunda says God honoured Zambians with victory against Ivory Coast in the Africa Cup of Nations. Meanwhile, first lady Dr Christine Kaseba-Sata will today host a special luncheon at State House in honour of the Chipolopolo Boys.
In a statement issued by special assistant for press and public relations George Chellah, President Sata said the team's momentous achievement had further galvanised the country which had undergone great renewal of hope in the last few months.
"You have really honoured your departed colleagues who perished during the course of national duty off the coast of Gabon. To the coaches, team management, Football Association of Zambia executive and everybody involved, I say it is a job well done," he said.
"You went with admirable humility, competed with heart, unity and patriotism and accounted for every drop of your sweat. The result of your hard work is the trophy which you have brought to your motherland for the first time."
President Sata said the government attached great importance to the development of football and was greatly encouraged by the splendid performance of the Zambia national soccer team.
"That is precisely why I sent our beloved icon and founding president Dr Kenneth David Kaunda, my predecessor Mr Rupiah Bwezani Banda and his honour the Vice-President Dr Guy Scott and Cabinet ministers. This gesture was meant to demonstrate to you and the entire nation how much importance we attach to football and how this sport unifies our country," he said.
"Indeed, you have demonstrated once again that nothing beats unity and hope and it is my desire that you will continue with this spirit as you pursue even greater success."
President Sata said with the 2014 World Cup qualifiers kicking off in June this year, it was imperative for the team to continue working hard to record yet another milestone at a higher level.
And in an interview yesterday, Dr Kaunda who watched the final in Gabon, said Zambians would never forget the struggles they had faced to become African football champions.
"This is truly a great day indeed and how can we forget the challenges we have faced, including the demise of our young gallant men who perished off the coast of Libreville, Gabon! This is an amazing experience and we can only thank God for this joyous moment. The people of Zambia have been honoured and we have to be grateful to the Creator for this victory," Dr Kaunda said.
"We should also remember the support we received from the Gabonese people who filled the stadium to capacity and gave morale to our boys even when the referee misbehaved a bit and I also thank President Ali Bongo and other heads of State who came to witness the great occasion."
Dr Kaunda, who occasionally jogged in the plane's aisle and sang his trademark Tiyende pamodzi ndi mutima uyo, advised that the government do everything possible to enhance and maintain the standards showed by the national football team.
"The boys played very well and I left that place (stadium in Gabon) very much impressed when I saw that Zambia is able to do such a thing...beating the so-called giants in football. But we should do everything possible to maintain these standards by revamping schools and youth leagues," said Dr Kaunda.
"We should also thank the Gabonese government for giving us chance to pay homage to the fallen football heroes and I hope they will allow us to build a monument near the crash site in memory of our departed men."
And former president Rupiah Banda said it was interesting to see the players believing in themselves.
"Zambians' win is shocking but it was so good and I am happy the boys did it in style in memory of the late colleagues and the next step is the World Cup," he said.
Foreign affairs minister Given Lubinda said the victory against the Ivoirians could be described as divine intervention.
"The victory is timely and this must inspire all Zambians to be united by continuing living in peace and harmony and there is no better way to honour the Gabonese football victims than what happened (victory) last (Sunday) night," said Lubinda.
"Now the spirits of the fallen football heroes will truly rest in peace because what they stood for has been partly achieved."
Chinese Ambassador to Zambia Zhou Yuxiao said China was happy to see Zambia emerging victorious.
Several Chinese companies sponsored a chartered plane for soccer fans to watch the final in Libreville.
"We are proud and we hope to see Zambia performing better in the future and this gesture to take soccer fans including former presidents to watch the championships is part of our corporate social responsibility," said Ambassador Zhou.
The plane carrying the national team touched down at Lusaka International Airport at 15:53 hours and was greeted by the popular Chipolopolo Iyeee chant.
Vice-President Guy Scott was first to disembark followed by government and FAZ officials and players.
Team captain Christopher Katongo emerged last with the trophy.
Scorer of the winning goal, Stophila Sunzu, was splashed with champagne by fans at the airport.
The players got onto a military vehicle, ACMAD, and left under police escort.
Katongo lifted the trophy and showed it to fans who lined up on Great East Road on their way to the Showgrounds.
Nathan Sinkala who was appearing for the first time at the Africa Cup finals said it was a great feeling to have won the cup.
He said the team did it for the fallen heroes who died in 1993 and for the many fans at home who rallied behind them.
"It was not easy to lift the trophy but we kept fighting because we knew what we were there for. It's a great feeling to see all these fans welcoming us," he said.
The team was received by Lusaka Province minister Gerry Chanda, defence minister Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba, Lusaka mayor Daniel Chisenga, National Sports Council of Zambia chairperson Chifumu Banda, deputy Secretary to the Cabinet Teddy Mulonga. Musicians MC Wabwino and JK were on hand to receive the Chipolopolo boys.
Hundreds of fans, some having had spent Sunday night at the airport according to airport officials, climbed trees and towers at the airport to catch a glimpse of the players.
The fans sang solidarity songs looking at each and every plane that arrived thinking it was carrying their national team.
Thousands of enthusiastic fans trooped to the Showgrounds where a victory concert was staged.
Thousands of fans stayed awake throughout Sunday night singing and merry-making.
Workers, as well as pupils at government schools, had an early day with some virtually declaring a 'holiday' to celebrate the Chipolopolo victory.
Many workers left their offices by lunchtime while classes were suspended as early as 09:00 hours in some schools because there were no pupils to teach.
Zambia and other countries in Southern Africa have been engulfed in wild celebrations after the Chipolopolo were crowned Africa Cup of Nations champions for 2012.
In Petauke, Lundazi and Chipata, residents sang the famous Don't Kubeba song and caused a traffic jam after Zambia beat Ivory Coast in the Africa Cup final.
After Nsunzu converted the last spot kick to give Zambia its maiden AfCON victory, residents dashed to the streets blowing vuvuzelas while others ran around without shirts.
And Malawians and Zambians resident in Malawi joined in celebrating the win.
First secretary for press at Zambia's High Commission in Lilongwe Chansa Kabwela said Zambians there went wild following the Chipolopolo Boys' victory.
According to Kabwela, Zambians who gathered at Lilongwe's Crossroads Hotel to watch the match danced and sang songs in jubilation immediately Zambia scored the winning goal.
"During the gruelling 120 minutes of play, the crowd, which included Zambians and Malawians, watched enthusiastically and chanted slogans in support of the Zambian side. After the final whistle, celebrations continued into the early hours of Monday (yesterday) as the people, clad in Zambian colours, played loud music from their vehicles while others honked their vehicles as they drove to their homes," she stated in an emailed statement.
Kabwela stated that the beaming of the match on a big screen at the hotel was organised by the Association of Zambians Living in Malawi.
Zambia's Deputy High Commissioner to Malawi Henry Ngilazi said the triumph at the 2012 African Cup of Nations was well deserved.
"The boys have indeed honoured the Zambia national soccer players who died in a plane crash off the coast of Gabon in 1993. This is a pivotal moment in Zambia's history. But I must mention that this victory is surely not just for Zambia but the Southern African region," Ngilazi said.
"On behalf of the Zambian mission in Lilongwe, I wish to congratulate the team, the Football Association of Zambia and all Zambians on this momentous occasion."
Association of Zambians Living in Malawi chairperson Pastor Eugene Chinunga said the national soccer team had made the country proud.
"We are proud of what the Chipolopolo Boys have done. We are so excited and wish the boys all the best in the entire season and years to come. We also want to wish His Excellency President Michael Chilufya Sata the best as he governs the country," said Pastor Chinunga.
"We have seen this victory during his tenure. There is unity demonstrated through his leadership going by the high-powered delegation he sent to give morale to the players. He has the people of Zambia at heart."
The Malawian media has been giving Zambia positive coverage throughout the tournament while radio stations continue to play Zambian songs in praise of the Chipolopolo Boys.
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5 die in victory celebrations
By Masuzyo Chakwe, Henry Sinyangwe and Misheck Wangwe
Tue 14 Feb. 2012, 13:01 CAT
OVER five people died during celebrations following Zambia's victory in Sunday's Africa Cup of Nations final. In North Western Province, two people died on the spot in separate incidents after being hit by vehicles during celebrations.
Police spokesperson Elizabeth Kanjela said the first incident happened at midnight in Mufumbwe where a 19-year-old boy was hit by an unknown vehicle and died on the spot.
"In a related incident, a male nurse by the name of Maambo Haamalambo died on the spot after being hit by a motor vehicle at around 00:30 hours in Mwinilunga," Kanjela stated.
"The driver has since been arrested and charged for causing death by dangerous driving."
In Lusaka's Matero area, an unknown person died on the spot after being hit by a Toyota Hiace minibus.
The University Teaching Hospital recorded 35 casualty cases and received two dead bodies shortly after the match ended.
UTH public relations manager Pauline Mbangweta said of the 35 cases, 18 were victims of assault while 17 were victims of road traffic accidents.
Mbangweta said police brought in two bodies after the match.
She said the two males, one aged 18 from Marapodi and the other aged 15 from Kuku compound, died during the victory celebrations.
"One of the males admitted is critical with severe head injuries while the others are stable," said Mbangweta.
And two fatal accidents were recorded on the Copperbelt in the celebrations that engulfed the province before and after Chipolopolo beat Ivory Coast 8-7 on post-match penalties.
Copperbelt Police commissioner Mary Tembo said the first accident involved a juvenile aged five who was ran over by a Volvo Truck in Ndola's Chifubu township, five hours before kick off.
Tembo said the Volvo truck registration number ACM 1737 was being driven by Wilfred Busiku, 39 of house number 2909 Chifubu.
She said the deceased was a male juvenile, Landwell Tembo, of house number D 28 in Chifubu.
"The accident happened when the driver had parked the motor vehicle and the child went underneath the vehicle. At a time he wanted to go, he ran over the child. This was before the match around 16 hours and it happened opposite the UCZ Church in Chifubu," Tembo said.
She said the other accident was a hit-and-run incident involving a Kitwe teenager.
She identified the victim as Mary Mukangwa, 16, of St Anthony Compound in Kitwe who was hit around 01:45 hours in the victory celebrations on Kuomboka Drive.
Tembo said the driver and the motor vehicle had not been traced yet.
And an identified lady was hit by a vehicle in Mufulira's Mokambo border area.
"The lady was hit by an immigration officer who was celebrating Zambia's victory. The woman is out of danger and has been hospitalised in Mufulira," said Tembo.
Last Wednesday, over seven deaths were recorded in post-match celebrations following Zambia's dramatic 1-nil win over Ghana in the semifinal in Bata, Equatorial Guinea.
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Chipolopolo, iyeee; Chipolopolo iyeee...
By The Post
Mon 13 Feb. 2012, 12:30 CAT
"YOU can get it if you really want, but you must try, try and try. You'll succeed at last... But the harder the battle you see, it's the sweeter the victory..." sang Jimmy Cliff in a reggae rhythm. Our hearts should expand on this day, which calls to memory the conquest achieved by determination over despair.
Determination and hard work is to rejoice on this day, and useful to reflect their own; so that we rejoice the real, and not imaginary, good; and reflect on the positive advantages we achieved last night in Gabon, and those which it is ours farther to achieve.
For this - for the wonderful result achieved and yet in store for our country -let us rejoice! But let us rejoice as reasoning beings, not as ignorants or idiots going around destroying things, causing accidents and killing ourselves. So shall we rejoice to good purpose and in good feeling; so shall we improve the victory once last night achieved.
Close to 19 years ago, we lost our entire national soccer team in a terrible plane crash off the coast of Gabon. We have never had a tragedy like that. We know it is hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like that happen.
It's all part of the process of trying to move forward. We picked up the pieces and soldiered on. And last night we did it in Gabon - we honoured the lives and memory of those dear ones we lost close to two decades ago in Gabon.
Truly, the future doesn't belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave,
the determined, the hard working, those who never give up. Those who perished in Gabon were pulling us into the future, and we have continued to follow them. And last night we did so in victory. We won. Hold your heads high now. We have won.
We must not lose ourselves, in everything that we do, including our politics, to cynicism, pessimism and despair. We can win and we have won. Wherever you are today, we challenge you to hope and to dream of a better future, a better country, a more just, fair, humane and prosperous Zambia. Don't submerge your dreams.
Even in the gutter, dream of the day that you will be upon your feet again. You must never stop dreaming. It is said that today's dreams are tomorrow's reality; yesterday's dreams are today's reality. We have no alternative. We must continue dreaming, with the hope that a better nation, a better Zambia will become reality in the same way our soccer dreams became a reality last night in Gabon - as it will, if we keep struggling. We should never give up on our dreams, our utopias. It is that struggling for utopia means, in part, building it.
We have seen many of our dreams of the past become reality. And, since we have seen this, we have the right to keep on dreaming of things that will become realities someday, both in our country and in the world as a whole.
If we don't think this way, we would have to stop struggling, for the only logical conclusion would be to abandon the struggle for a better Zambia, a better world, and we think that no honest, sensitive or caring person ever abandons the struggle for a more just, fair and humane society, just as they never stop dreaming of such a society, of such a world.
Face reality, yes. But don't stop with the way things are; dream of things as they ought to be. Dream. Face pain, but love, hope, faith and dreams will help you rise above the pain. Use hope and imagination as weapons of survival and progress, but you keep on dreaming.
Dream of a peaceful and prosperous Zambia. Dream of a Zambia where every child who wants to kick a ball has access to a ball. Dream of a Zambia where every child has the possibilities or opportunities of making themselves what they want to be - a Chris Katongo, an Emmanuel Mayuka, a Kennedy Mweene, and so on and so forth.
Dream of a nation where the political leadership is honest and incorruptible, is caring and loving, is hard working and thrift. Dream of a nation in which
teachers teach for life and not for a living. Dream of a Zambia with medical doctors who are concerned more about public health than private wealth. Dream of lawyers more concerned about justice than money. Dream of preachers who are concerned more about prophecy than profiteering. Dream on the high road of sound values.
Dream of a Zambia that refuses to surrender to corruption, abuse of power,
intolerance and other vices. Go forward in the Chipolopolo way. Zambia must never surrender to malnutrition. We can feed the hungry and clothe the naked. We must never surrender.
We must go forward. We must never surrender to illiteracy. Let's invest in our children so that we can have more Rainford Kalabas, more James Chamangas, more Isaac Chansas and so on and so forth. Never surrender; and let's always go forward in the Chipolopolo way. Don't give up. We know its tough sometimes. It took a little more effort to get there last night, to defeat Cote d'Ivoire last night.
We cannot forget 19 years ago when our backs were against the wall, when we had so many coffins to put in the ground at Independence Stadium and Michael Sata was the one assigned to be in charge at that burial site. But as usual, painful as it might have been, he took it well and could crack some jokes here and there.
Don't you surrender and don't give up on your dreams, on what you want your
country to be. We have done it in soccer. We can do it in other things. Of course, soccer is one of the things - one of the sporting disciplines - in which our country and indeed Africa as a whole is rising to demonstrate her excellence, for too long latent in her womb.
We will do it in other things as well. Together, we will lift up the standards
of our governance. Together, we will improve our economy and ensure that the basic needs of our people are met.
We have won. Let's celebrate. Chipolopolo, iyeee; Chipolopolo iyeee, Chipolopolo iyeee ...
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Zambia celebrates
By Kalumiana Kalumiana in Linbreville Gabon and Ndinawe Simpelw
Mon 13 Feb. 2012, 13:00 CAT
WE have done it, it would have been unthinkable for Chipolopolo to leave Libreville without the trophy, says Herve Renard. And wild celebrations engulfed Zambia after Chipolopolo defender Stophila Sunzu netted in the decider of the head-to-head Africa Cup final between Ivory Coast and Zambia.
In an interview after
Chipolopolo were crowned the African champions at midnight Zambian time, Renard said the national soccer team had honoured the legacy of the Gabon disaster by winning the Africa Cup.
"It was written somewhere that we will win here. The only possibility for us, the fact that we could come here for the final gave us greater inner strength and a present for our FAZ president Kalusha Bwalya who escaped this catastrophe," Renard said.
"We were stronger when we got to Libreville. We knew what we needed to do to honour the victims and this was our destiny in this win, we had a stronger force. I am very proud to be coach of the Zambia national team. We are very proud to have brought the cup back to Zambia."
Meanwhile, Zambians across the nation broke into the Chipolopolo iyee and Don't Kubeba songs and filled the streets to celebrate the historic victory. Zambia beat Ivory Coast 8 - 7 on post match penalties, with Sunzu converting the final spot kick.
Celebrations went on into the early hours of today.
After 120 minutes, there was nothing to separate the two sides and the match was to be decided on post-match penalties.
Both teams scored their first six penalties but drama ensued after Manchester City defender Kolo Toure missed the seventh penalty for Ivory Coast giving the advantage to Zambia.
However, when Rainford Kalaba stepped up to take the penalty, he too skied the spot kick.
This gave the chance to another high-profile player, Arsenal's Gervinho to put his country ahead but he too shot wide.
With Dr Scott, government officials and first Republican president Dr Kenneth Kaunda and former president Rupiah Banda watching in the stands, Sunzu put the ball behind the net to give Chipolopolo its first-ever Africa Cup.
Zambia becomes the second Southern African nation to win the AfCON after South Africa in 1996.
Chipolopolo ended an agonizing 38 year wait to be crown African champions yesterday after defeating Cote d'Ivoire 8-7.
It was a fairytale end in Libreville where 19 years ago Zambian football underwent its darkest day on April 27, 1993 when 18 players and 12 officials and crew perished in an air crash on the coast of the Gabonese capital.
The team was on its way to Dakar to play a USA 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Senegal.
Twice before Chipolopolo had tried and failed to win the Africa Cup in 1974 that was decided in an epic replay against Zaire now DR Congo.
And in 1994 just a year after the Gabon air crash, Chipolopolo came close to an emotional triumph but lost 2-1 to Nigeria in an exciting final played in Tunis.
Zambia began her march to yesterday's final with a surprise 2-1 win over pre-tournament favourites Senegal in a Group A match on January 21.
They followed that with a hard-fought tie against Libya on a water-logged stadium in Bata, twice coming from behind to draw 2-all.
Chipolopolo ended her group matches with a vital 1-nil win - courtesy of a goal by team captain Christopher Katongo - over tournament co-hosts Equatorial Guinea.
The win saw Zambia top the group and set up a quarter-final clash against Sudan. Zambia's resounding 3-0 win over the Sudanese set up a mouth-watering encounter against Ghana.
In a game in which Zambia was often outplayed, and in which goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene pulled off a vital save from Asamoah Gyan's penalty, Emmanuel Mayuka's 78th minute winner secured a memorable passage to the final in Libreville.
In yesterday's final, Zambia neither disappointed nor were they overawed by a galaxy of star in "The Elephants" lineup in the first half.
And the Chipolopolo should have gone in front just after two minutes when a well worked corner found Nathan Sinkala unmarked in the box but his shot was well saved by Babubacar Barry in the Ivorian goal.
Zambia continued to explore the Ivory Coast territory with fans both at the stadium led by Vice-President Guy Scott and his wife and the fans back home cheering the Chipolopolo's every move.
Five minutes later, veteran Joseph Musonda suffered a reoccurrence of his pre-tournament knee problem but quickly came back on.
Sadly, he only lasted five minutes later on the pitch in a distressed state, dealing a serious blow on his 100th cap for Chipolopolo and he was replaced by Nyambe Mulenga.
Chipolopolo continued to look comfortable and an Emmanuel Mayuka, the midway point was blighted by some questionable decision by Senegalese referee Diatta Badara but justice was served when Mweene saved Siaka Tiene free kick with ease in the 20th minute.
Isaac Chansa had a good opportunity in the 27th minute but he ballooned his shot high and over when he was well set up by Rainford Kalaba.
Two minutes later, Ivory Coast had the best chance of the half when a back heel by Didier Drogba found Yaya Toure but his shot was just inches wide from the goal.
Gervinho too had a go at Mweene in the 35th minute with a flick but the Chipolopolo goalkeeper saved with ease.
Chipolopolo dominated, led by Katongo whose attempt was five metres wide when it was easier to lay off for Mayuka before the first half fizzled out without any sparks from a very quiet Kalaba and nothing much to show from the star studded Ivory Coast.
At the start of the second half, Drogba was left dazed after a clash of heads with Mulenga but recovered quickly to combine well with Gervinho in the 47th minute but Sunzu was there to prevent danger from near the post and the ball went out for goal kick.
Seven minutes later, Ishmael Tiote let loose a free kick that went rising and out as the 1992 champions enjoyed a good start to the second half.
Chipolopolo recovered from that Elephant rampage with Mayuka's cross in the 61st munite in search of Kalaba who was lurking on the far end intercepted by Gosso-Gosso.
At this stage, the entire stadium was left tense and nervous waiting for the opening goal but the fans back home in Lusaka continued to cheer the Chipolopolo in different locations of the city.
Zambia continued to look an improved side after the hour mark as Kalaba was now showing signs of firing up after a subdued first half.
However, in the 68th minute, Gervinho easily went down after he was bundled over by the Zambian defense as he ran into the box.
The senegalese referee did not hesitate to point to the spot and Chelsea talisman Drogba stepped up to take the resultant penalty. But drama is never very far behind when Mweene in goals at the Africa
Cup with spot kicks when the striker shockingly skied the penalty, missing his second spot kick at the tournament.
Then Nyambe came off in the 73rd minute for Felix Katongo as Renard pushed for offensive in search of that vital goal..
Chisamba Lungu wasted a good chance with speculative shot in the 81st minute that went wide but that didn't stop Barry from stretching himself just for measure.
Francois Zahoui then took off Yaya Youre for Wilfried Bony in the 86th minute for Alain Gradel whose pace troubled Chipolopolo's defence with his best chance in the 88th minute flashing across the face of the goal with Mweene beaten.
Deep into injury time, Chansa's cheeky chip found Mayuka who skipped the Ivoirian defence but his shot was deflected out for a corner that Barry subsequently saved.
Mweene at the other end also made a brave save with Gervinho a metre out before Diatta blew for extra time.
In the 94th minute, Felix Katongo beat one defender to pass to his brother Christopher who hit the post with his effort but it seems Barry had the final touch to the ball.
The two teams could not find the back of the net until the final whistle and neither looked subdued going into extra time.
In extra time, both teams continued to size each other up but without creating any goal scoring opportunities with the dreaded penalty shootouts looming.
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