Africa Cup of Nations - blog

Zambia go from zeroes to heroes

by Paul Myers

Article published on the 2010-01-22 Latest update 2010-01-22 18:23 TU

Zambia's players celebrate after James Chamanga's goal against Gabon at Ombaka stadium in Benguela on 21 January, 2010
(Photo: Reuters)

A second consecutive morning of sunshine; another dawn of joy. Well it was, until I was wrenched out of my reverie. I got to the breakfast room just before 10am and started diving into the cereal and then some toast.

As I was adding the jam, there was a tap on my shoulder and I was informed that the breakfast facility would end – as the house rules state – at 9am on Saturday.

That’s me upbraided then.

Two squads waking up this morning in Angola have been upended.

Tunisia and Gabon are out. And both will leave with the knowledge that they had the chance to advance but couldn’t take it.

On Thursday afternoon Tunisia were here in Lubango and Gabon were meeting their doom in Benguela.

Gabon started the final batch of Group D games at the head of the pack with four points. Cameroon was second with three, Tunisia sported two points and Zambia was holding up the table with a point.

But by the end of the evening, the meek had inherited the earth. The Chipolopolos – for that is their nickname – had rocketed from bottom to top of the group thanks to a 2-1 win over Gabon and Cameroon’s 2-2 draw with Tunisia.

Zambia, Cameroon and Gabon all finished with four points but due to the tournament regulations, Zambia and Cameroon are through.

I won’t begin to explain the how and why of the rules because if I do, you’ll wonder how and why such rules came about.

The Tunisians who only had three points are out. Their team coach has just gone past my hotel window amid a cacophony of sirens and motorcycles.

Au revoir, my proud Carthage Eagles.

Their wings were clipped. Tunisia were a goal up against Cameroon within a minute, stood off rather than going for the kill. Got a lucky break to go 2-1 up and failed to rejoice in their good fortune. Pegged back to 2-2 they couldn’t find the extra strike.

The Cameroon coach Paul Le Guen acknowledged after the match that his side has been lucky in two of their three matches.

"Sometimes that’s what you need in a tournament," he told me.

Cameroon are going to need great dollops of luck because they next play Egypt. It’s a rematch of the 2008 final, which the Pharaohs (the nickname for Egypt) won 1-0.

Egypt are unbeaten in the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations. They have sailed silkily into the last eight. But how will slickness fare in the face of raw hazard? I am intrigued.

I’m happy for Zambia. The president of the football association is the former player Kalusha Bwalya. He gave me his number in Ghana during the last nations cup and I’ve phoned him up on stories a couple of times since then.

At the end of one call I asked if he was still vice-president of the football association. He said he’d become the president. I congratulated him and asked: "Was it a bloodless coup?"

He roared with laughter and explained the previous president had come to the end of his term and he had been elected.

And we joked about how he didn’t want to do the job but was merely answering the people’s wishes.

The quarter-final line up in Angola includes teams such as Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Egypt, Cameroon and Algeria, all of whom have been used to success of late.

Zambians haven’t tasted anything like that for nearly a generation – not since the glory of Bwalya’s playing days.

He’s as pleased as punch and Zambia should give Nigeria a run for their money in the quarter-finals. If they get into the semis, Bwalya might find himself president for life.