Zambian joy dedicated to the boys of '93

Last night we witnessed incredible scenes as the underdogs Zambia beat the Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in Libreville to win the African Cup of Nations. 

It was very emotional at the end as the team rejoiced but Zambia's coach Herve Renard (below-right) was not taking all of the praise:

"My players were magnificent. I know we're not the best but we have a strength and force that animated our team and made us African champions. They might make some tactical mistakes here and there but you can see the talent".  

Renard hails magnificent Zambia

It was Stoppila Sunzu who scored the winning penalty which gave Zambia their first ever African Cup of Nations trophy. This was after Arsenal's Gervinho missed a penalty for the Ivory Coast. A team containing the likes of Manchester City's Kolo and Yaya Toure, Chelsea's Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou, Newcastle's Cheik Tiote and former Spurs midfielder Didier Zakora beaten but a team where only two of their squad play in Europe. It was a terriffic performance and one that should inspire many.

The story of Zambian football is one of tragedy and heartache after 18 players were killed in a plane crash en-route to Senegal in 1993. Ironically it was a plane from Libreville, where they returned for the first time since 1993 to win this tournament. That squad were hailed as Zambia's best ever and looked a cert to qualify for World Cup in USA in 1994. After the crash the Zambian FA got a team together however they missed out by a gut-wrentching single point.

The only player to survive the crash was star player Bwalya Kalusha who due to his contract with Dutch side PSV Eindhoven was making his own way to Senegal. Kalusha is now the Zambian FA President. 

Renard said that the title was dedicated to the players of 1993 and Kalusha of who he said: 

"Kalusha was one of the best Zambian players of the last century. Then he was coach of the national team, now our [Football Association] president. He knows how terrible this crash was for the nation. I want to dedicate this title to him, he gave me my chance when nobody knew me."

Chances were few and far between during the game however the best was the penalty that Didier Drogba, the Ivorian icon, fired over the bar. Although the Ivorian keeper pulled off a terrific save in extra-time to keep the Elephants in it.

The game was 0-0 after 120 minutes meaning that the Ivory Coast did not concede a goal from open play in the entire tournament.

"This is our time" - these were the words that Zambia's coach Herve Renard said to his players before the penalty shoot out. The spirit of the team was shown by the fact that they sang together as one  throughout the shootout.

The shoot out was an incredibly tense affair in which both sides scored the first seven penalites. The penalties were of a terrific standard with not much either keeper could do about it. However there was one moment of controversy when Ivorian Sol Bamba's kick was saved by the magnificent Kennedy Mweene but he was judged to have moved off his line by the lines-man and so the penalty had to be retaken. The retake was firmly dispatched. At this stage you maybe felt that it was not going to be for Zambia. Then the eighth penalty taken by Kolo Toure was saved and that presented Rainford Kalaba with the chance to win it for his team, but he skied his kick over the bar. Again you were thinking maybe it was not be Zambia's night. Although following this up stepped the very nervous Gervinho, who clearly did not want to take a penalty. His body language was bad and he looked like he would miss. His demeanour reminded me of that of Nicholas Anelka in the 2008 Champions League final. The outcome was the same. Gervinho shot was awful as it went well wide of the mark. Despite the pressure Stoppila Sunzu then calmly fired home to give Zambia the win.

A magnificent day for Zambia and one that coach Herve Renard said was 'written in the stars'.