Tears Long Overdue

Zambia Champions of Africa 2012

"All good poetry is forged slowly and patiently, link by link, with sweat and blood and tears."

 - Alfred Douglas

      On Sunday, February 12th, 2012, the Zambia National Soccer Team did the unimaginable. They won the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations against all odds for the first time in their history. The final match was played in Libreville, Gabon, at the Stade de l'Amitie (Stadium of Friendship) against the hot favorites Cote d'Ivoire. Today, Sunday February the 19th, 2012, makes it exactly a week after that glorious victory. I have been very busy with school work in the last week, which explains why I haven't blogged about that special triumph. To be honest, that's not the only reason I could not blog. I was still caught up in the celebrations and could not contain my excitement. Now that it all sunk in...I can tell you all a little bit about what that victory means to me as a Zambian and as a football fan. And also what it means to the country.

      Before Feb, 12th, Zambia had never won the Africa Cup of Nations. This cup had been elusive to the country for over 30 years. The Chipolopolo (copper bullets) boys reached their first ever final in 1974 and lost to Zaire 2 - 0. It took Zambia, 20 years to see the Chipolopolo boys feature in another final match. In 1994 they played against Nigeria and lost 2 - 1 despite scoring the first goal (Elijah Litana's header) from a Kalu corner kick. You have to remember though that this was just a year after the 1993 Gabon air disaster. So in that respect, Zambia did very well and exceeded the expectations.

Chipolopolo boys with their gold medals

      After the 1994 final, Zambia struggled to reach its best form and in 1996 when the cup of nations was hosted by South Africa, we reached the semi-finals. Not a bad achievement but certainly poor to a Zambian team that was considered one of the best in Africa. This to me, was the end of our glory days. After 1996 everything just crumpled and I do not remember Zambia achieving anything memorable at the higher level. The only competition that kept fanatics like me was the COSAFA Cup. The COSAFA Cup is a small annual tournament for teams from Southern Africa and it is basically a morale booster. If you can do well in the COSAFA tournament, chances are that you could probably qualify for the Africa Cup. This is not necessarily true, especially nowadays because the tournament has lost its value and many teams are fielding players from the reserve team or Team B. Therefore, post 1996 many Zambians were forced to lose interest in the national team let alone the local leagues. This brought about a new era of local football indifference at its best and I am guilty of being a part of this era. By the year 2000, I had no idea who the national team coach was neither did I know the names of the players on the team. I may have known one or two but Zambia had no solid team. Every game you would see different players and it was just plain confusing. Why would I watch that when I can watch Manchester United or Real Madrid play the beautiful game? The period from 1997 (just after the CAN 1996) to about late 2009, saw many Zambians adopt foreign teams and lost complete interest in their own local teams. This was pretty much the 'dark age' of football in Zambia. You have to know that in Zambia, as Pastor Conrad Mbewe puts it, "there's no second or third sport as is the case in so many other nations of the world. For us it is football, football and football."  So without a concrete national squad, many Zambians took pride in Manchester United, Chelsea, R. Madrid etc.

K. Chintu, R. Kalaba, E. Kangwa and C. Mbesuma

      Before, I explain to you what happened to me on February 12th, 2012. I want you to understand the gravity of football in Zambia and in my heart. Football is not just a game to me like most people would say. It is a game and a religion. Religion not in the form of faith, idle-worshiping or spiritual hekatombs (OK you get the idea) but in the form of joy, expression, excitement, suspense, emotion, etc. I love the feeling I get when watching football and I don't know whether my team is going to win or lose. It's suspense, joy, expressions and emotions at their best. In my other blog, The Victory Anthem Is On, I talked about how the emotions took over Aunty Jane and how she cried when the Zambia National Soccer Team perished in 1993. I could not cry not because I am some emotionless creature but because I did not have a personal connection with that team (the KK11). I was only 6 years old and still a youngling. Now I have developed a scary relationship with the current Chipolopolo boys and a few days ago I could not help but think what I would do if they all died in a similar fashion as the KK11 boys. It's a bad thought I know but only a thought. It won't happen. The fact is I would cry just like Aunty Jane did because I know these boys so well and I know their positions on the pitch, what skills they have and what they can offer. I have seen these boys grow and mature at least from the 2010 Africa Cup in Angola. After reaching that Quarter Final for the first time in some 14 years, this team of players finally re-ignited the lost passion in many Chipolopolo fans. By the year 2012, my passion was in full force and had a feeling 2012 could just be our year. My loyalty to the team was never in doubt even during the 'dark ages' but my passion had faded a little. 

11 C. Katongo, 10 F. Katongo, 20 E. Mayuka, 08 I. Chansa & A. Sinkala

      Anyways, I am guessing you already know the story from the pictures so I won't go much into that. If you want to find out exactly what happened during the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations...check out Gaffa Rafa Benitez's Zambia Spring A Suprise blog or this Youtube video Zambia Road to Africa Cup 2012 Glory. The final game, Zambia v Cote d'Ivoire was an epic final and Gaffa Rafa has done a great job in analyzing that one. After Stoppila Sunzu scored that decisive 'magic' penalty to make it 8-7, I screamed on top of my voice, ran around the Danforth (my residence hall) basement and finally decided to take off my jeans trouser that I was wearing and went outside. Wild celebrations I know. But do not worry, on that day I was wearing another short (not a boxer) so I was fine. I ran outside without my shoes, screamed and screamed till I literally lost my voice. I guess the two students who were standing outside thought I had gone crazy. I came back in to finish watching the trophy and award presentations but there was nothing to watch because we were streaming the match online and hooked it up to the big screen with a VGA cable. Namukaba (the only other Zambian) and other friends I was watching with left and now I remained alone to let it all sink in. 

      I could not believe we were champions of Africa for the first time. It was a good feeling. So I came to my room and without much thought played my 'Victory Anthem'; the song that I had always played every night throughout the competition before a Zambia game. The moment the song started playing, I broke down and cried. This song had never made me cry before till that day. My tears weren't tears of joy but rather tears for the KK11. I thought of all those players who died in that plane crash and I thought of all those years gone by without lifting this cup. At this moment, I was so sure that if that crash had not happened, Zambia would have won the Africa Cup of Nations long ago and we would not have waited for this long. Whatever the case, these tears were long overdue. Now we are Champions of Africa and I can only smile. There is no better time. 

- Amulay Sirch