It’s 2012. Stoppila Sunza steps up for the chance to immortalise his name in Zambia, who are one kick away from winning their first-ever major trophy and honouring the 1993 team who tragically died all those years before. As he steps up, his teammates and staff behind him stand arm in arm, singing a song to commemorate those on board the flight that day. They’re so close to achieving what that Golden generation of Zambian players never got the chance to do. One moment, one second. One kick of a football.
In the early 90’s, Zambia had what was widely regarded as the best African footballing team of all time. They had just come off the back of beating World Cup semi-finalists Italy 4-0, and the 1994 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) was theirs to lose. On April 27, 1993, the team boarded a flight to Senegal to play a World Cup qualifier but never made it off the plane. They crashed in the Atlantic Ocean just off the City of Libreville in Gabon, killing everyone on board, including 18 players and staff.
A black box was recovered from the flight, which revealed the poignant moment where the players, who knew they were about to crash, sang a song together in unison before their inevitable fate was sealed. The outcry and heartbreak in Zambia was obvious, as thousands mourned the loss of lives and recognised the joy that this group of players had given them over the past years. A crop of unbelievably talented footballers was lost, and with it, so were Zambia’s hopes of competing for trophies.
Kevin Shubaiana, a player from Zambia’s 1993 squad who wasn’t on the flight that fateful day, was appointed president of the Zambian FA just before the 2012 African Cup of Nations. The team hadn’t been competitive since before the tragedy, but that was about to change.
Zambia entered AFCON 2012 as outsiders, with many fans simply happy that they had qualified for the competition. Their first game was against Senegal, the side that they were meant to play almost 20 years prior, and against the odds, they won 2-1. After a miraculous and emotional run to the semi-finals, Ghana waiting for a team that had already made their nation proud. This was supposed to be the end of the road. However, a Zambian squad that had no players in Europe’s top five leagues won 1-0 against a Ghanaian side full of Premier League stars.
So, Zambia had somehow made the final of a competition that they were given no chance of winning a month before. Excited fans bought tickets for the highly anticipated game while the world watched on in amazement, but where would the final take place? In a stadium in Libreville, just a few hundred metres away from where the plane crashed in 1993. It felt like the script had been written. The only issue? The nation standing in their way, Ivory Coast, were full of world-class players, most notably Chelsea Legend and newly crowned European champion Didier Drogba. Ivory Coast were unbelievably yet to concede a goal all tournament, and when asked how Zambia would change that, manager Herve Renard responded, “We don’t have to.”
And this was to be the case. After 120 minutes of play, the game was 0-0, and penalties were needed. After an Ivory Coast miss, Zambia had the chance to win the shootout and win their first-ever trophy. As the players and staff sang the same song that the 1993 team sang as their plane crashed into the ocean, and the new FA president Kevin Shubaiana sat and watched on in the same city where his friends lost their lives, penalty taker Stoppila Sunza began to sing the song too as he stepped up for the most important moment in Zambia’s on-field footballing history.
As the ball left his foot, a whole continent gasped- but then pure elation erupted. Zambia had done it. Years of hurt. Years of mourning. Years of thinking that winning would be impossible. The Zambian team won AFCON 2012 and gave its people a new golden generation to be proud of while honouring the old generation in the most perfect way.
