We deserved to win says Zambian Keeper

Zambian Team celebrating their victory

Didier Drogba’s ghosts returned to haunt him as Zambia won the African Nations Cup for the first time after beating Ivory Coast 8-7 in a drama-filled penalty shootout following a 0-0 draw on Sunday. Stoppila Sunzu converted the winning penalty after three successive efforts had been missed in a long and nervy shootout that totalled 18 kicks.

But the goalless match might not have had to go to the shootout had Drogba not ballooned a 70th-minute penalty well wide to deny his team victory inside 90 minutes, repeating his miss in the 2006 final which the Ivorians lost to Egypt.

The loss was another near miss for the Ivorian’s golden generation, who had been expected to win African football’s top prize at the last four editions but failed every time. Two of their English Premier League players – Kolo Toure and Gervinho – missed kicks in the shootout.

Zambia, who had gone into the game as underdogs, won over the 40,000 crowd in the Friendship Stadium in the Gabon capital with their positive play against a surprisingly timid Ivorian side who failed to take the initiative in the game. After winning, the Zambian team held up banners remembering their side that died in a air crash not far from the stadium in 1993 and whose memory they had honoured on the eve of the game.

At times, Zambia showed complete disdain for their star-studded opponents, with showy tricks on the ball and some clever routines although they also lived dangerously in defence.

Yaya Toure and substitute Max Gradel both went narrowly wide for the Ivorians but it was Drogba who could have been the hero after Isaac Chansa had pushed down Gervinho in the penalty area in the 70th minute and the Senegal referee Badara Diatta bravely awarded a penalty.

But Drogba hit his shot well over and then seemed to sink into a sulk for the rest of the game. He was brave enough, however, to take the fifth penalty for the Ivorians in the shootout.

The first 14 kicks were successfully converted before a reluctant Kolo Toure had his shot saved at 7-7 but Rainford Kalaba then missed for Zambia. Gervinho, who also did not want to take a kick, then missed before Sunzu won the cup for Zambia, who had suffered two previous defeats in the 1974 and 1994 finals. It was the seventh Nations Cup final to be decided on penalties.

The most recent was when Egypt beat the Ivorians 5-3 in the 2006 final, which also ended goalless.

Zambia’s goalkeeper Kennedy Mwenee said that his team had deserved to win against a team that did not concede a goal outside of the penalty shootout in the finals.

“We deserved it, maybe people will say we don’t deserve but we deserve it,” he said. “From the start to the end we deserve it. Like we say the Ivory Coast have not conceded a goal. We told ourselves the same. Even if they don’t concede a goal they can lose. I think that is why it went to penalties. They went out without conceding a goal but they went on to lose.”

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• Zambia Vs. Ivory Coast, 2012 Africa Cup Of Nations: Final Score, Copper Bullets Win In Dramatic Shootout (sbnation.com)
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Black Stars drop out at AFCON semi finals.

Black Stars of Ghana

Ghanaians never expected their 2012 Africa Cup of Nations experience would end like this. The Black Stars were tournament favourites and analysts predicted a final between Ghana and Ivory Coast. But a 78th-minute goal by Zambian Emmanuel Mayuka at the Bata stadium in Equatorial Guinea ruined Ghana’s hopes of lifting the cup for a fifth time and fans following the game back home on outdoor big screens were crushed.

The game could have turned out very differently had Asamoah Gyan not missed an eighth-minute penalty. Ghana dominated the game but struggled to create chances.

“Now we are very disappointed, we should have won the cup and now we cannot determine when we would win it again,” said Gideon Ofori a fan in Accra.

A fervent Zambia side pushed Ghana — some analysts say the southern African copper bullets were inspired by the opportunity to honor the players that died in a plane crash in 1993 off the coast of Gabon, the venue of their final clash against Ivory Coast on Sunday (February 12).

Ghana’s performance brought back bitter taste of the 2010 World Cup where they managed to reach the semi final but not the final.
“We should recruit the young ones and train them better because we should not rely on the senior ones, they are always giving us heart problems, you know when we follow them we will waste our time on football,” said Michael Ahorsu, another Ghanaian fan.

In Mali, fans also in outdoor screening venues were less tense yet hopeful that Mali could cause an upset against Ivory Coast, in the same way Zambia had against Ghana just over an hour before.

But an individual goal from Gervinho put Ivory Coast into the African Nations Cup final with a 1-0 win.

Ivory Coast proved too powerful for their fellow West Africans and might have won by a bigger margin but both sides were visibly tired and struggled to find their rythm.

Fans in Bamako said they were proud of their Seydou Keita-led team for making it to the semi finals even though they did not reach the final.

“We have never had a team like this. Frankly speaking these are youngsters that have all the future for them, and in every respect the people of Mali are ready to motivate them. Sincere thanks to the trainer, because we Malians didn’t expect the Malian team to come so far. We are happy in every respect and very satisfied with them, they did a good job,” said Yacoube Kante, a Malian fan.

“They showed us something with the match today. I am very satisfied with them, very proud of them. I appreciate today’s performance. We are all happy and no one is disappointed, except they didn’t win, but that’s a matter of luck,” said Keita Soire, another fan.
Sunday’s match will be third final for the Ivory Coast, who won the tournament in 1992.
Zambia will also play their third final having previously lost in 1974 and 1994.

Related articles

• Goal: Africa Cup of Nations: Zambia in Final (goal.blogs.nytimes.com)
• Ivory Coast to Meet Zambia in Final (nytimes.com)
• Mali v Ivory Coast preview (skysports.com)
• Zambia 1-0 Ghana (guardian.co.uk)