On 27 April 1993, the Zambian national football team aircraft, en route to Senegal for a 1994 FIFA World Cup USA™ qualifier, crashed into the sea 500 metres off the coast of Libreville, Gabon. There were no survivors. Except, that is, for captain Kalusha Bwalya, who had planned to make his own way to Senegal from Eindhoven, where he played his club football at the time.
Fast forward to 2 February 2012, and there was an altogether different mood in Libreville. Zambia had just won their first CAF Africa Cup of Nations title after a memorable penalty shoot-out victory over Côte d’Ivoire. Kalusha Bwalya, now president of the Zambian Football Federation, was struggling to take it all in. It is almost 20 years since the tragedy that took the lives of so many of his friends and team-mates, and the emotion was understandably overwhelming. “I thank God for having witnessed this moment,” Bwalya told FIFA.com. “I’ve been waiting since 1993 to see Zambia win the CAN. Now I’ve seen it.”
One thing is certain: the 1993 generation of Efford Chabala, Richard Mwanza, Kenan Simambe, Winter Mumba, Samuel Chomba, Whiteson Changwe, Robert Watiyakeni, John Soko, Eston Mulenga, Derby Makinka, Moses Chikwalakwala, Wisdom Mumba Chansa, Godfrey Kangwa, Numba Mwila, Kelvin "Malaza" Mutale, Timothy Mwitwa, Moses Masuwa, Patrick "Bomber" Banda, Godfrey "Ucar" Chitalu, Alex Chola and Wilson Sakala, wherever they are now, will have heard Zambia’s victory celebrations loud and clear. And they will have been delighted that Bwalya was still there to represent them. FIFA
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