By Dennis Keagile
Zambia has led the way, we should follow
Since Day One of the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, I fell in love with the Zambian national team aka Chipolopolo. 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. I am not saying the team should play without brakes or lights at the back, but the body structure of the Zambian players is exactly like Botswana players. We have players with exceptional skill and we have to exploit that to our advantage.
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. In-fact, immediately after their game against Senegal, I hinted to my editor that he should watch out for Zambia. I had this belief based on their enthusiasm that the team could go far. I am no coach, but I have been in the game long enough to tell a good team with sound strategy and lot of verve. There is something unique about this Zambian team. They look fresh as if they have not been playing or have just joined the race to finish a sprint. This says much about their training programme, the physical and mental conditioning is exceptional. This is my greatest wish for the Zebras because while the team is good defensively it seem to lack that agility. By the way, the decision by Zambia to get rid of its previous coach who helped them qualify for the finals seems to have been a God sent one as Herve Renard has taken them to the finals on his second stint as Zambia’s coach. Immediately after Angola 2010 he parted company with the team, but was sensationally brought back after Zambia had qualified for Equatorial Guinea and Gabon finals. I know that a lot of soccer pundits questioned the wisdom of the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) for taking such a decision, but FAZ has surely been vindicated.
This now brings us to the other question: how much time does a coach need to transform a national team? By the look of it, the maturity of players is the key, hence he has easily transformed the team. In-fact Alan Shearer of England says that every player wants to play for his country, hence at times you do not need a long time to be in the position to transform the team. And, listening to FAZ president, Kalusha Bwalya’s interview it is clear that while his association was happy at qualifying for the final, they could foresee that under the previous coach they could not go far, which is why they recalled Renard. The association was ridiculed, but now it is having the last laugh.
So at times when you know what you want it becomes easier to make a decision like the FAZ did. I know that many people’s money is still on Ivory Coast for the final on Sunday, but I have this belief that the Elephants have not been really tested. Yes they have big name, big game temperament players like Didier Drogba, Yaya Toure and Gervinho just to mention a few. But the fact that Zambia managed to beat Senegal in the first game and then Ghana in the semi finals shows that the team will be hard to beat. The confidence is obviously high and a modest.
Bwalya thinks that they can surprise the continent. In-fact it is a personal triumph for him, given the mutiny that engulfed FAZ in 2010 when some members of his executive resigned en masse, questioning his leadership style.
For him there will be no better honour for him than to see Chipolopolo, as the Zambian national team is affectionately known, lifting the trophy. Most soccer fans will recall that it was off the coast of Gabon on April 23, 1993 that the cr�me of Zambian football perished in an air crash in one of Africa’s worst sporting disasters.
Bwalya had somehow by the grace of God not been part of the entourage and now as FAZ president, and a legend of Zambian football, the best way to pay homage to his former team-mates is for Zambia to lift the trophy and guess where, at the scene of the air crash. So in a way, fate might have already decided that this trophy is heading to Zambia as a tribute to its fallen heroes. A year after the air crash Zambia came runners-up to Nigeria in 1994 in Tunisia. Once more I would be routing and praying for Zambia. Surely emotions would run high for the team for the coast of Gabon is where the cr�me of the Zambian national team perished. I am therefore praying that goalkeeper, Kennedy Mweene will be at his best again just as he was against the Black Stars of Ghana on Wednesday. I know that Ivory Coast also badly needs this trophy to soothe the war victims of the civil war that has been raging in their country, but I am convinced that for Zambia to fully heal and have closure on the 1993 air disaster is to lift the cup; so God help Zambia.
On a different note, I think we should all applaud Equatorial Guinea and Gabon for successfully organising this tournament. I mean these are very small countries whose combined populations do not even reach two million, but have done wonders.
Where are you Botswana, where are you Zambia and where are you Zimbabwe? We cannot just leave everything to South Africa and watch by smaller countries like Burkina Faso, Mali and now Equatorial Guinea and Gabon steal the thunder from us. Please wake up Southern Africa. Do you hear me Ian Khama, do you hear me Michael Sata and do you hear me the granddad of Southern Africa, Robert Mugabe? You guys need to do something. Good luck to both Ivory Coast and Zambia. /Mmegi
Author is from Bostwana
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