THERE are times, perhaps, when the pursuit of excellence can blind us to what sport is really about. There is a beauty, of course, in a perfectly executed action, but true transcendence comes from emotion, and there can have been no more emotional occasion than Zambia's victory in the Cup of Nations here on Sunday.
It wasn't just that it was their first Cup of Nations success. It wasn't just that they, with only one player playing for a top-flight European team, beat Ivory Coast, beat a side packed with representatives of Europe's elite. It was where they did it in Libreville, a city that until Sunday had meant for Zambia only death.
The air crash of 1993, which killed 18 members of their team and four coaches as they headed from Libreville to Senegal for a World Cup qualifier, was in Zambia's thinking from the moment coach Herve Renard gathered the squad together on December 28. Only by reaching the final would they play in Libreville; only by winning the tournament could they raise a fitting memorial to the dead. On Friday, they met on the beach, the last land the plane had crossed before exploding over the Atlantic, to sing together and lay flowers of commemoration in the waves.
The song continued throughout Sunday's penalties, a sign of the togetherness of this side. And that was the key to their success. Kalusha Bwalya, Zambia's greatest player, survived the crash because, being based with PSV Eindhoven he was making his own way to the game. With extraordinary moral courage he put together a new side in the aftermath of the disaster that reached the final of the Cup of Nations in 1994. But this is also his triumph, for it was his decision after the failure to qualify for the 2006 World Cup to put together a squad of young players and show patience with them.
That has been the wider message of this tournament: cohesion and long-term planning are the first steps to development, something shown not just by Zambia, but also by Sudan. It was a tournament that stressed the team over the individual, a tournament that, after the misery of Angola two years ago, has revived the Cup of Nations.
A tournament of few giants turned out to be a tournament played largely without fear. Only Ivory Coast and Ghana came with much in the way of expectation, and the result was football played with freedom and a sense of adventure.
There were issues with the size of the crowds, which were dismal when neither of the co-hosts were playing. It's a perennial Afcon problem, but it wasn't helped by hosting the tournament in two nations that have little tradition of football, or by the ticket prices.
Other than that, the pitches were good and the refereeing excellent. After the farce of the Jabulani ball in Angola two years ago, the Comoeqa has behaved impeccably, something evident in the fact that five direct free-kicks were scored - as opposed to none in Angola - and the goalkeeping was much better. This ball was controllable.
The best sides prospered. Three of the best four teams reached the semifinal. Gabon missed out, but given what is happening in Mali it would be churlish to begrudge their dogged team their third place.
Ghana, in fact, ended up as probably the weakest of the semifinalists, strangely overconfident before their game against Zambia.
The Ivorians remain unfulfilled. Drogba, at 34, perhaps has one more opportunity, in South Africa next year, but that is his last chance. Francois Zahoui's cautious approach was an all-or-nothing policy - only victory could have vindicated his approach, and he was thwarted by the risk he could not eliminate; that of fragile players in a penalty shoot-out. Zambia, driven by the emotion of 1993, proved the more robust and offered a reminder that sport is about the triumph of the human spirit.
Players rewarded
LUSAKA - Zambia has given $59000 (R453000) to each player in the national side that won the country's first Africa Cup of Nations title on Sunday, the sports minister said yesterday.
"The government has given each one of you $59000, and that is beside what the corporate organisations might decide to give. This money is from the government," Chishimba Kambwili said on national radio.
The award is a princely sum in a nation where, per capita, gross domestic product is less than $1500 (R11500). Zambia defeated favourites Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties after 120 goalless minutes in Sunday's final, which had emotional overtones for Zambia.
The final was staged in the Gabonese capital Libreville, off the coast a military aircraft carrying the 1993 Zambian national squad plunged into the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 30 players, officials and crew on board.
The national team returned home on Monday, sparking a near stampede at the Lusaka showgrounds where 200000 people gathered to congratulate the Chipolopolo Boys. - Sapa-AFP
A fitting memorial
THERE are times, perhaps, when the pursuit of excellence can blind us to what sport is really about. There is a beauty, of course, in a perfectly executed action, but true transcendence comes from emotion, and there can have been no more emotional occasion than Zambia's victory in the Cup of Nations here on Sunday.
It wasn't just that it was their first Cup of Nations success. It wasn't just that they, with only one player playing for a top-flight European team, beat Ivory Coast, beat a side packed with representatives of Europe's elite. It was where they did it in Libreville, a city that until Sunday had meant for Zambia only death.
The air crash of 1993, which killed 18 members of their team and four coaches as they headed from Libreville to Senegal for a World Cup qualifier, was in Zambia's thinking from the moment coach Herve Renard gathered the squad together on December 28. Only by reaching the final would they play in Libreville; only by winning the tournament could they raise a fitting memorial to the dead. On Friday, they met on the beach, the last land the plane had crossed before exploding over the Atlantic, to sing together and lay flowers of commemoration in the waves.
The song continued throughout Sunday's penalties, a sign of the togetherness of this side. And that was the key to their success. Kalusha Bwalya, Zambia's greatest player, survived the crash because, being based with PSV Eindhoven he was making his own way to the game. With extraordinary moral courage he put together a new side in the aftermath of the disaster that reached the final of the Cup of Nations in 1994. But this is also his triumph, for it was his decision after the failure to qualify for the 2006 World Cup to put together a squad of young players and show patience with them.
That has been the wider message of this tournament: cohesion and long-term planning are the first steps to development, something shown not just by Zambia, but also by Sudan. It was a tournament that stressed the team over the individual, a tournament that, after the misery of Angola two years ago, has revived the Cup of Nations.
A tournament of few giants turned out to be a tournament played largely without fear. Only Ivory Coast and Ghana came with much in the way of expectation, and the result was football played with freedom and a sense of adventure.
There were issues with the size of the crowds, which were dismal when neither of the co-hosts were playing. It's a perennial Afcon problem, but it wasn't helped by hosting the tournament in two nations that have little tradition of football, or by the ticket prices.
Other than that, the pitches were good and the refereeing excellent. After the farce of the Jabulani ball in Angola two years ago, the Comoeqa has behaved impeccably, something evident in the fact that five direct free-kicks were scored - as opposed to none in Angola - and the goalkeeping was much better. This ball was controllable.
The best sides prospered. Three of the best four teams reached the semifinal. Gabon missed out, but given what is happening in Mali it would be churlish to begrudge their dogged team their third place.
Ghana, in fact, ended up as probably the weakest of the semifinalists, strangely overconfident before their game against Zambia.
The Ivorians remain unfulfilled. Drogba, at 34, perhaps has one more opportunity, in South Africa next year, but that is his last chance. Francois Zahoui's cautious approach was an all-or-nothing policy - only victory could have vindicated his approach, and he was thwarted by the risk he could not eliminate; that of fragile players in a penalty shoot-out. Zambia, driven by the emotion of 1993, proved the more robust and offered a reminder that sport is about the triumph of the human spirit.
Players rewarded
LUSAKA - Zambia has given $59000 (R453000) to each player in the national side that won the country's first Africa Cup of Nations title on Sunday, the sports minister said yesterday.
"The government has given each one of you $59000, and that is beside what the corporate organisations might decide to give. This money is from the government," Chishimba Kambwili said on national radio.
The award is a princely sum in a nation where, per capita, gross domestic product is less than $1500 (R11500). Zambia defeated favourites Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties after 120 goalless minutes in Sunday's final, which had emotional overtones for Zambia.
The final was staged in the Gabonese capital Libreville, off the coast a military aircraft carrying the 1993 Zambian national squad plunged into the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 30 players, officials and crew on board.
The national team returned home on Monday, sparking a near stampede at the Lusaka showgrounds where 200000 people gathered to congratulate the Chipolopolo Boys. - Sapa-AFP
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