Zambia wins African Cup of Nations in a Tense and Spectacular Penalty Shootout

The Chipolopolo won the AFCON 2012 in Gabon when they edged out Ivory Coast 8 – 7 on post match penalties to lift the cup for the first time. It was a befitting tribute to their team which perished off Gabon coast in 1993  plane clash.

Chipolopolo Captain Chris Katongo celebrates with team mates.

They beat the tournament favorites Ivory Coast to lift the title after 14 kicks were converted, Kolo Toure and Gervinho failed to find the target for the Elephants as Zambia's Rainford Kalaba also blazed over. 

Stoppila Sunzu found the top corner to complete an amazing 8-7 victory. It was a heartbreaking end for Ivorian skipper Didier Drogba, who missed a spot-kick in normal time. 

This means the wait goes on for an Ivory Coast team complete with many Premier League and European stars, with the country losing the 2006 final to Egypt in the same way and last winning the title 20 years ago. 

For the Chipolopolo, who have already been runners-up twice, it concluded a tournament where they were inspired by the loss of the 1993 Zambian team after a plane crash close to the venue of the final in Libreville. 

The last time the southern African country reached the final in 1994, it was just a year after 18 Zambian team members died as they took off from the Gabonese capital.

Zambia Captain Christopher Katongo in action.

In winning the shoot-out, they showed a steely determination to beat their supposedly more illustrious opponents with a performance that was built on an indefatigable spirit.

Zambia conceded just three goals en route to the final and Ivory Coast none, and the game was never likely to be an open contest. And as the game progressed, the belief in the Ivorian team seemed to shrink. 

Buoyed by their vocal coach Herve Renard, Zambia always posed a threat from their well-worked set-pieces and it certainly appeared that fate was on their side when Chelsea forward Drogba missed from the spot. He however made amends for his earlier miss by scoring his team's fifth kick, after Souleymane Bamba was fortunate to earn a second chance having missed his first effort.

Sunzu made the most of misses by Kolo Toure and Gervinho, sparking wild celebrations for a well deserved triumph.

Zambia coach Herve Renard dedicated his team’s title triumph at the 2012 Orange Africa Cup of Nations to Chipolopolo legend Kalusha Bwalya for giving him the opportunity to handle the team.

Zambia coach Herve Renard is carried shoulder high by the celebratory team.

Kalusha, considered the finest Zambian footballer of all time heads the country’s football federation and the Frenchman describes the feat as a thank you package for the impact in his coaching career. Incidentally, Kalusha escaped the April 28, 1993 air plane crash involving the Zambian team in Gabon on their way to Senegal for a World Cup qualifier because he had to fly to Dakar from his European base. 

“He is the best Zambian player of the last century and he escaped the plane crash. He was criticized for giving me the second chance. I dedicate the victory to him because he gave me the opportunity to coach. I also thank Claude Le Roy for giving me my first experience in Africa as assistant coach in 2008 with Ghana.”

Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) president Bwalya, in turn, praised the French coach, and immediately looking ahead to the upcoming Nations Cup 2013 and World Cup 2014 qualifiers, said Renard "can stay as long as he wants".

Ivorian coach Zahoui proud in defeat

Coach Francois Zahoui said Ivory Coast can return home with their heads held high despite their defeat in Sunday's Africa Cup of Nations final. 

"We didn't expect such a challenging final," said the Ivorian.

"We go back to Abidjan with not too much shame. I think we played a good game. I congratulate Zambia." 

The Ivorians' misery was compounded by knowing that they had gone through the entire tournament without conceding a goal. 

"It's difficult when you take part in a competition and you don't concede any goals and score nine goals,'' Zahoui said.

Zambia's Chipolopolo meet Ghana as Mali face Ivory Coast in the Africa Cup of Nations 2012 Semi-finals.

The Orange Africa Cup of nations has come full circle now and we are in the semi final/half final stage.

Zambia face Ghana in the first semi final which will be played in Bata at  16:00 GMT

 

Zambia’s Chipolopolo has had a great journey so far. They have beaten Africa football giants Senegal 2 – 1 in the opening group stage match. Emmanuel Mayuka and Rainford Kalaba got Zambia's first half goals, with Senegal substitute Dame Ndoye pulling one back in the second half. They drew 2 – 2 with Libya in their other match and in the final group A match, the Chipolopolo beat the co-host Equatorial Guinea  1 – 0 to finish top of the group with seven points. In the quarter finals, they dispatched Sudan 3 – 0. I believe Zambia is the team to watch so far since they will be the underdogs facing the Black Stars of Ghana.

Chris Katongo, the Chipolopolo’s Captain will be the main man. He has scored key goals and works had for his side and today will be no different.

Ghana has had a good run in the competition which I would say was expected. They finished top of group D after beating Botswana by one goal to nil, Mali two goals to nil and had a one all draw in their final match against Guinea. The Black stars, who are one of the favorites to win the Trophy beat Tunisia 2 – 1 in quarter finals to book a place in the semi final.

 Ghana’s captain John Mensah will be the key man for Ghana with his experience which they will really need against a dangerous Zambia side bearing in mind some key players like Asamoah Gyan have not been in top for in this competition.

Mali face Ivory Coast in the second semi final which will be played in Libreville at 19:00 GMT

It will be a very huge mountain for Mali to climb since Ivory Coast has won all their matches in this competition. They had a slow start when they beat Sudan 1 – 0 in their first game but they have found great form since then. They thrashed their West African neighbours Burkina Faso 2 – 0 and dispatched Angola with the same margin to finish on top of group B with maximum points (9). In the quarter finals they beat co-hosts Equatorial Guinea by three goals to nil. Didier Drogba missed a penalty but made amends by scoring an incredible goal which he followed with a stunning header to make it two nil. Manchester City’s Yaya Toure struck a beautiful freekick to make it three nil and end the co-hosts participation in the competition.

Mali on the other had haven’t had an impressive run. They beat Guinea by one goal to nil in their opening match of the campaign. In the second match, they were beaten by Ghana by two goals to nil and in their final game, they beat Botswana by two goals to one. They were lucky that Ghana had a draw with Guinea in their final and that’s how they got through as runners-up of group D. In the quarter finals, they faced co-hosts Gabon. They battled to a one all draw after extra time and they won 5 – 4 from spot kicks.

 They have a huge task ahead of them since they don’t have a good record against their rivals Ivory Coast. They have beaten them only once in twenty one meetings.

 

Barcelona’s Seydou Keita will be the man to watch though I don’t he alone will get them through a star riddled Ivory Coast side. But all this will be know at the final whistle, they might cause an upset.

MAY THE BEST TEAM WIN!

Senegal Knocked out of Africa Cup of Nations by co-hosts Equatorial Guinea

As if being beaten in their opening match by Zambia’s Chipolopolo was not enough, the much fancied Teranga Lions were convincingly beaten by the co-hosts Equaorial Guinea by two goals to one, making their last match in group A, against Libya just a formality.

Cisse scored 35 goals in 95 league games for Metz before joining Freiburg

Despite having a unrivalled striking power in the likes of Newcastle United and English premier league second top scorer Demba Ba and Demba Cisse, whom they bought from Bundesliga club Freiburg on 17^th of this month and who is to join the club in a five-and-a-half-year deal, they could not beat the crafty Zambians in the opening match.

They could not master the killer finish in their match against Guinea who had several motivators for winning the match. The Equatorial Guinea team was awarded $1 million for winning their match against Libya and the striker who scored the goal $ 20,000. There was a promise of a similar amount for every match that they won and $ 20,000 to every player who scored a goal from the son of the President.

But it would be harsh to say that their only motivation is money. They are playing at home as the co-hosts and therefore have great support from the home fans and having qualified for the first time, are determined to make history.

Newcastle fans will be smiling all the way to the stadium including Manager Alan Pardew because the two strikers could be back in time for their game against Blackburn.

There is no telling what the combined force of the two will do for their team. Demba Ba has scored 15 league goals so far and Cisse has a great goal scoring record having netted 9 goals in 15 games this season. He will wear the number nine shirt, formerly won by legendary Newcastle and top scorer, Alan Shearer.

Too sad Senegal didn’t live to the expectations of many who thought that they would go ahead and win the African Nations Cup but it’s quite an opposite feeling if you are a Newcastle United fan.

Equatorial Guinea beat Libya as Zambia’s Chipolopolo stun Senegal as the Africa Nations Cup, 2012 kicks off.

The premier continental football competition is here again. Before we go to details and the groups its’ good to start with some history of this magnificent football showdown.

The Africa Cup of Nations, also known as African Nations Cup, officially CAN (French for Coupe d’Afrique des Nations) which is the main international association football competition in Africa was first held in 1957 sanctioned by CAF (Confederations of African Football). It has been held every two years since 1968.

In 1957, there were only three participating nations: Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia.

Africa Nations Cup Trophy

Since then, the tournament has grown greatly, making it necessary to hold a qualifying tournament. The number of participants reached 16 in 1998. Since then, the format has been unchanged with sixteen teams being drawn into four groups of four teams each. The top two teams from each group advance to a knock-out stage.

Egypt is the country that is most successful in the cup’s history, having won the tournament a record seven times. Ghana and Cameroon have won four titles each.Three different trophies have been awarded during the tournament’s history, with Ghana and Cameroon winning the first two versions to keep after each of them won a tournament three times. The current trophy was first awarded in 2002 and with Egypt winning it indefinitely after winning their unprecedented third consecutive title in 2010.

As of 2013, the tournament will switch to being held in odd-numbered years so that it does not clash with the FIFA World Cup.

This year’s tournament is an interesting one since most African Football powerhouses are missing in action. These countries didn’t qualify for the competition and this might be an indication of the development of football and how competitive the sport has become on the continent.



The football giants that are missing include: Egypt, Nigeria, Cameroon, Algeria and South Africa.

The tournament is being co-hosted by two countries: Equatorial Guinea and Gabon 

The four groups are as follows:

Group A
ZAMBIA
GUINEA EQ.
LIBYA
SENEGAL

Group B

COTE D’IVOIRE

SUDAN

BURKINA FASO  

ANGOLA

Group C

GABON

NIGER

MOROCCO

TUNISIA

Group D

GHANA

BOTSWANA

MALI

GUINEA

Group A pits tournament co-hosts - and debutants - Equatorial Guinea against surprise qualifiers Libya, Nations Cup regulars Zambia and Senegal, one of the tournament outsiders.
Until the last round of matches, the group will be played in Bata on the Equatorial Guinea mainland.

 

EQ GUINEA FACTFILE

• Nickname: Nzalang Nacional (National Lightning)
• Coach: Gilson Paulo
• Captain: Rodolfo Bodipo
• Nations Cup record: Tournament debutants
• Fifa ranking: 151

LIBYA FACTFILE

• Nickname: Mediterranean Knights
• Coach: Marcos Paqueta
• Captain: Samir Aboud
• Nations Cup record: Making third appearance
• Best Performance: Runners-Up (1982)
• Fifa ranking: 63

ZAMBIA FACTFILE

• Nickname: The Chipolopolo
• Coach: Herve Renard
• Captain: Chris Katongo
• Nations Cup record: Making 15th appearance
• Best Performance: Runners-Up (1974, 1994)
• Fifa ranking: 71

Two group A matches were played in the opening day of the tournament – 21^st January, 2012. The co-hosts Equatorial Guinea played Libya and beat them 1 – 0. In the other match, Zambia played against the much fancied Teranga Lions of Senegal. Zambia produced an impressive performance and they beat Senegal by 2 – 1. Emmanuel Mayuka opened the scoring for Zambia after 12 minutes, with Rainford Kalaba doubling their lead seven minutes later.

Senegal substitute Dame Ndoye pulled one back for Senegal with a beautifully taken strike.
There are more matches slated for today and we will keep you updated and informed.

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Meanwhile, it is super Sunday in the English Premier League, with the city of Manchester facing North London. Tottenham Hotspur visit Etihad stadium to face top of the table Manchester City while Manchester United are at Emirates to face their arch rivals Arsenal who will be looking to revenge their 8 – 2 defeat at Old Trafford early in the season.

Enjoy watching and remember to come back for results and analysis.