African Cup of Nations Group C preview: Zambia

The Chipolopolo (The Copper Bullets) waltz into this year’s African Cup of Nations on the back of winning the last tournament against all odds. A penalty shoot-out victory over hot favourites Ivory Coast led to emotional scenes as Zambia won their first ever ACN in Libreville, only a few hundred metres inland from the 1993 air disaster crash site which killed all but one of their squad.

Zambia have been runners-up twice before in the tournament and tend to do well when they appear, and the Zambian fans will be hoping the team can become only the fourth nation to retain the title.

How Did They Qualify?

Like most international tournaments now, the previous winners do not automatically qualify and Zambia had to make their way through the shortened qualifiers like everyone else. They drew Uganda (managed by Scot Bobby Williamson) and were taken to penalties after a 1-1 aggregate result, 1-0 victories for the home game in both games.

After Uganda’s Patrick Ochan missed his penalty, Stoppila Sunzu held his nerve to fire his penalty home and send Zambia to South Africa 2013.

Manager?

Frenchman Hervé Renard has been in charge since October 2011, his second spell in charge from Zambia. He spent a long playing career entirely in France without any real success before starting his coaching career at SC Draguignan in 1999. Since then, he has managed Cambridge Utd, AS Cherbourg, Zambia for the first time, Angola and USM Alger before going back to the Copper Bullets. The victory last year was his first ever trophy in his managerial career.

Star Men

Christopher Katongo is the current superstar of Zambian football, winning the 2012 BBC African Footballer of the Year and captaining the squad to victory last year. A very dangerous striker, he has played for the likes of Brondby and Xanthi before settling in China with Henan Construction. Christopher has scored goals in numerous countries and has a fantastic scoring record. At international level, he hasn’t always been a prolific goalscorer but does score when it matters most, an attribute which will be extremely precious come tournament time.

Emmanuel Mayuka started his career with Zambian side Kabwe Warriors before moving to Maccabi Tel Aviv. The striker’s obvious potential earned him a move to Young Boys and he took Swiss football by storm, scoring 32 goals in 55 league games. With that form and winning the 2012 ACN Golden Boot, Mayuka was always going to move to a larger club in a better league.

Surprisingly, he opted for Premier League strugglers Southampton instead of bigger & better options. He recently made his first start for the club as the Saints have slowly introduced him to the first team, but he’s still been scoring for Zambia and will be Zambia’s main point of attack in the championships.

Kennedy Mweene has been Zambia’s established first choice goalkeeper since 2004 and currently has 75 caps to his name. He is a fantastic shot-stopper and his performances in last year’s tournament won him the Goalkeeper of the Tournament award. Kennedy is cool as a cucumber under pressure, as evidently shown in last year’s shoot-out in the final when he saved one penalty and stepped up to score his own penalty.

How Far Can They Go?

The squad is mostly the same as last year’s which will only help, and I believe Zambia could retain the title IF (and it’s a big if) they win Group C. Their match against Nigeria should determine who wins the group, and more importantly, who should avoid the Ivory Coast in the quarter-finals. If Zambia win the group, they should win the quarter-final and from there, we know they have the skill and the nerve to go all the way. At least the semi-finals for me IF they win Group C.