Writing 'The Zambian Game.'

Writing 'The Zambian Game' was quite an experience. It involved delving back into the deepest reaches of memory to recall some of the most memorable moments I have spent following Zambian football and countless interviews with many of the people who were influential in making Zambian football so memorable over the years.

Below is an excerpt from the chapter that looks at Zambia's success in winning the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.

Standing in Zambia’s path was a Ghanaian team, ranked among the favourites to win the tournament, and playing, if not with the expected dominance, with the air of a team that truly believed that nothing less than a place in the final was their destiny. Before the match Ghanaian midfielder, Sulley Muntari, is said to have scoffed at Renard’s credentials, remarking that he had only been the physical coach when he worked for the Black Stars. Renard took the comment in his stride, channelling it as a motivation rather than considering it a put-down. He explains, ‘Maybe Muntari has a short memory because I was doing seventy five percent of the training. Only the tactical approach was from Claude Le Roy because it was not special physical fitness or training, it was mixed. I remember I was with him many times in the gym, to prepare him but maybe at this time he didn’t see something of me because I didn’t make any decisions. With me, I was confident. I knew one day, my day would come and I knew sixteen of the twenty-three Ghana players. I said to my players, the final against Ivory Coast, this is our chance because today we will beat them and we will play the final, and we will win this final.’

Renard was not the only one in the Zambian contingent who found himself the target of cynics. He remembers an incident before the match against Ghana that strengthened the resolve of the Zambian team to win. ‘We had such a strong mentality. We were upset sometimes about the comments. Before the Ghana game, three players were in the press conference and one journalist asked, ‘Can you introduce yourselves because we don’t know you?’ Christopher Katongo was so upset but first, we believed in ourselves. We got strength, I don’t know where the strength came from but it was unbelievable. Me, I didn’t for a second, fear anybody; Ghana, Ivory Coast.’

As expected, Ghana dominated large spells of the match with possession in their favour but the Zambian team had their moments too. The turning point came when Renard took off James Chamanga and brought on Emmanuel Mayuka. He also replaced the more defensively-minded Francis Kasonde with Chisamba Lungu at a critical time on the match, when fatigue was beginning to creep into the Ghanaian team after their relentless but futile attempts on the Zambian goal. It took one flash of brilliance by Mayuka to decide the match, as he swiveled to create space and shot instantly, catching Adam Kwarasey off-guard. It proved the difference between the two teams and Zambia were in the final eighteen years after their last appearance in Tunisia in 1994.

Power Dynamos Football Club: A New Journey

Thirty years ago, 1984, I sat in the terraces at the Arthur Davies Stadium and watched Power Dynamos win their first-ever league title with a comprehensive 4-1 defeat of Mufulira Wanderers. The match, played under floodlights - a rare occurrence these days - was a thriller and I was overjoyed as Wisdom Chansa and company steamrolled over opposition that included talented players, among them Kalusha Bwalya, Philemon Mulala, and Frederick Kashimoto, all regular national team players.

Over the years as the playing generations changed my relationship with the players evolved, from hero worshipper to friendship, older brother to father figure and now, with recent my appointment as committee member at the club, to administrator.

The road ahead is one full of uncertainty as we, the members of the executive committee, seek to return the team to the heights of over two decades ago when Power Dynamos became the first Zambian team to lift a continental title with victory over Nigeria's BCC Lions, 5-4 on aggregate over two legs.

Since that glorious and memorable episode, Zambian football subsequently sunk to all all-time low with the decline of the domestic game, only to resurface in 2012 with an unexpected victory in the Africa Cup of Nations that reignited the passions of local fans , sparking a mini-revival of the local league.
We hope to, at Power Dynamos, build a club that will stand the test of time by making it a self-sustaining entity, win the league regularly, win an African title again and finally, play at the World Cup of Clubs.

This will take considerable effort and ingenuity given the paucity of commercial revenue streams in Zambian football and the reluctance of marketing executives in the corporate sector to look beyond the classical marketing tools of print, radio, outdoor and TV. Their view of football as just a game and not a vehicle for reaching the large, emotive audiences that follow the game make the task for commercial independence all the more difficult. One could say, in their defence, that Zambian football has itself not looked at the game introspectively and made itself available as a commercial vehicle. Domestic football is still plagued by cases of mismanagement, poor facilities, crowd violence and non-commercial decisions that beggar belief. Matches played midweek during working hours with virtually no crowd in attendance are a case in point.

On the field, there is still much work to be done to raise the technical level to that of the north African giants who continually dominate the continental competitions with the odd cup going to the deep-pocketed TP Mazembe of the Democratic republic of Congo. The players, too, need to raise their levels of professionalism to a higher plane with diet, media relations, work ethic, tactical discipline and off-field conduct all areas that could do with much improvement.

If all goes according to plan, the league title should be within reach this season, continental football next year and thereafter the bar will be set higher - to become African champions once again.