The Copper Bullets on target to take the big game of Les Éléphants

I’m happy that Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations for the first time, 19 years after their national team was wiped out in an air disaster not far from the stadium where the final was played – echoes of Manchester United under Sir Matt Busby rebuilding after the Munich air crash of 1958 to win the European Cup ten years later. Côte d’Ivoire may have only won it once (1992) and have been favourites for the last four tournaments including this one, but Zambia had done a Dutch – twice finalists in 1974 (incidentally the year the Netherlands lost to the Federal Republic of Germany) and 1994 but never hoisting the trophy. That said, the Zambians pursued a style of play belying their status as underdogs. It still ended up 0-0 but of the more entertaining variety and there’s always the tonic for neutrals of penalties afterwards.


Whatever the criticisms of the regimes of Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, there has been no instability that led to the Togolese bus being shot up in Angola and as, largely, a contiguous square with the island apostrophe of Malabo, it made more sense than co-hosts Ghana and Nigeria in 2000 who did not share a border of either land or sea. I see South Africa are now the next to manage the party (just a year later, to avoid clashing with the FIFA World Cup, before reverting to a two-year format. Goodness me). At least they can’t balls up their qualification for that time around given their bye for entry. It still is a source of amazement that any football association worth their salt did not understand the rules for progress (and surely the media would have had numerous trails about what was needed), thinking goal difference was the key aspect when head-to-head was the first deciding factor, so the team played for a draw when they needed a win. Intriguingly, Libya has been selected for the 2017 tournament, which will be 35 years after they entertained the footballing cream of the continent – a free country with, hopefully, a bright future.