Gabon fans' support for Zambia in Africa Cup of Nations final reconciles nations driven apart by crash that killed 18 players
Of all the extraordinary memories of the Africa Cup of Nations final, perhaps the most remarkable was the reaction of the crowd. In the aftermath of the 1993 plane crash that killed 18 Zambia players just after take-off after refuelling at Libreville, relations between Zambia and Gabon sunk to ugly lows.
There were street protests in Libreville complaining that mortuary facilities were being used for the Zambian players rather than local dead. There were rows over who should pay for the investigation and even suggestions that the plane en route to a World Cup qualifier against Senegal, had been inadvertently shot down by Gabon's military.
When decisions made by the Gabonese referee Jean-Fidel Diramba denied a rebuilt Zambia qualification for the 1994 World Cup, relations between the countries were shattered. "Innuendoes against Gabon," the Times of Zambia wrote, "will continue to fly for as long as memories of the crash, the frustrated searchers, the cynical, almost triumphant grin of a referee named Diramba linger on in the Zambian mind." In Zambia the word "gabon" is still used to mean something substandard or untrustworthy.
And yet on Sunday night the crowd, most of whom were Gabonese, clearly backed Hervé Renard's side as they defeated Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties. The ultimate underdog story, the triumph of the human spirit, won over home fans who might have been expected to be hostile. Even on Monday, a taxi driver stuck in traffic idly drummed on his steering-wheel chanting "Chipolopolo, Chipolopolo" (the Copper-headed Bullets), the nickname Zambia took on after the plane crash.
This was an event that went beyond partisanship, beyond Zambia's usual virtues of discipline, organisation and pace. This was something that went beyond sport: it was about a nation coming together to fulfil a dream. The 87-year-old former president Kenneth Kaunda – such a big fan that before the crash the team was known as the KKXI – was there and so was his fellow former-president Rupiah Banda.
So too was Kalusha Bwalya, probably Zambia's greatest player and now the president of the federation. He escaped the 1993 crash because he was based in the Netherlands with PSV Eindhoven and so made his own travel arrangements.
It was his idea to pull together the cream of the youth teams after failure to qualify for the 2006 World Cup and develop a young squad and Bwalya who brought back the 43-year-old Renard, who had coached Zambia at the last Cup of Nations, in October. When Bwalya appeared on the running track after the final penalty, every green-shirted player raced straight over. As Renard said, nobody knew what the victory meant more than him.
Renard, a stern father of a coach, had discussed the possibilities of the draw when he gathered his squad together on December 28. "I said to the players, 'You know we play first against Senegal and the plane was going to Senegal, and the final is in Libreville, where the plane was leaving from.' I can't explain it: it was written." He has walked a fine line between arrogance and self-mockery during the tournament, but here he was insistent: "It's nothing to do with me."
It clearly is, though. He once ran a rubbish collection business and was sacked by Cambridge United in 2004 after fewer than five months in charge but his persistence has been rewarded. He can be ruthless, as he showed in sending home the midfielder Clifford Mulenga for refusing to apologise after breaking a curfew, and he can get angry as was demonstrated in a first-half incident involving the right-back Davies Nkausu.
Incensed at the advanced position Nkausu had taken up he thumped him in the chest while shouting instructions. "We saw against Mali [with his goal in the semi-final] that if you leave 50 metres behind you, Gervinho will kill you," he said. "I showed them that sequence, so I was furious he did not respect what I said. Perhaps it looks strange from the outside, but they know how I am. There's no problem. I think they need someone like this. If they had a coach who didn't react like this … they need to be pushed. Sometimes they are not very focused but they can do magical things." Certainly Nkausu did not seem to take it amiss, patting his coach on the shoulder as though to calm him down.
The final whistle showed the other side of him, as he picked up the left-back Joseph Musonda, who had been forced off injured after 12 minutes, and carried him on to the pitch to join the celebrations .
It emerged that Renard had expected to be in the final. He had packed three of his famed lucky white shirts (Zambia have never lost a Cup of Nations game when he's worn white): one for the three group games, one for the quarter-final and semi-final and "a special one" for the final. He was sensitive enough, though, to leave the central role in the celebrations to Bwalya. He had spoke of "reconnecting" with his 18 dead team-mates and this was a victory of the past as well as the present.