Zambia national football team

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Zambia

Nickname

Chipolopolo (The Copper Bullets)

Association

Football Association of Zambia

Confederation

CAF (Africa)

Head coach

Patrick Phiri

Most caps

Kalusha Bwalya

Top scorer

Godfrey Chitalu^{[citation needed]}

Home stadium

Independence Stadium

FIFA code

ZAM

FIFA ranking

Highest FIFA ranking

15 (February 1996)

Lowest FIFA ranking

80 (May 2004)

Elo ranking

Highest Elo ranking

28 (April 1994)

Lowest Elo ranking

99 (May 2004)





First kit





Second kit

First international
Southern Rhodesia

0 - 4 Northern Rhodesia

(Southern Rhodesia; 1946)

Malawi 0 - 3 Zambia
(Malawi; July 04, 1966)

Biggest win

Zambia 9 - 0 Kenya

(Malawi; 13 November 1978)

Biggest defeat

Congo DR 10 - 1 Zambia

(Congo-Kinshasa; 22 November 1969)

Belgium 9 - 0 Zambia

(Brussels, Belgium; 3 June 1994)

African Nations Cup

Appearances

12 (First in 1974)

Best result

Runners-up, 1974 and 1994

The Zambia national football team is the association football team representing the country of Zambia and is governed by the Football Association of Zambia. The side is nicknamed Chipolopolo (the Copper Bullets) as copper is one of the southcentral African nation's main exports. The team has two African Nations Cup final appearances to its credit and among its most memorable moments is a 4-0 victory over Italy in the 1988 Olympic football tournament in Seoul, South Korea that saw Kalusha Bwalya score a hat-trick.

1 Gabon air disaster
- 1.1 Aftermath of the tragedy
- 1.2 List of players killed in the 1993 air disaster
2 Honours
3 World Cup record
4 African Nations Cup record
5 External links
6 See also

[edit] Gabon air disaster

A tragedy befell the Zambian national football team when the military plane (reg: AF-319) carrying the team to Senegal for a 1994 World Cup qualification match crashed in the late evening of April 27, 1993. The journey required two refuelling stops and at the first stop in Congo engine problems were noted in the Zambian Air Force Buffalo DHC-5D. Despite this, the flight continued and a few minutes after taking off from a second stop in Libreville, Gabon one of the engines caught fire and failed. The pilot, who was tired from already having flown back from Mauritius earlier that day, then shut down the wrong engine, causing the plane to lose all power during the climb out of Libreville Airport and fall into the water 500m offshore.

All 30 passengers and crew, including 18 players, as well as the national team coach and support staff, were lost in the accident. When news reached Zambia hours later, the nation was overcome. The Chipolopolo's captain and later national team coach, Kalusha Bwalya, was not aboard the ill-fated flight as he was in the Netherlands playing for PSV at that time and had made separate arragements to make his own way to Senegal to take part in the qualifier match.

[edit] Aftermath of the tragedy

A new side was quickly assembled, and led by Bwalya, faced up to the difficult task of having to complete Zambia's World Cup qualifiers and then prepare for the upcoming African Nations Cup which was only months away.

The resurrected team's final World Cup qualifier pitted them against Morocco in Casablanca in a match requiring the Chipolopolo to come away with at least a tie in order to qualify for the 1994 FIFA World Cup. Their qualification run ended with a 1-0 defeat after a controversial call by the referee in the closing moments of the game that denied Zambia a penalty shot that could have led to the crucial draw.

At the 1994 African Nations Cup, the new Chipolopolo squad defied the odds, and displaying an offensive playing style, they reached the final against Nigeria. They took the lead in the first half, but the Super Eagles quickly equalized and followed up with the winner in the second half. In spite of the loss, the Zambian side returned home as national heroes.

The loss of the national team is Zambian football's saddest moment and the effort of the rebuilt side is remembered as a suitable tribute. However, the families of the footballers who perished feel that they were never fully compensated for their personal loss and some have threatened to sue the government over the issue.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] List of players killed in the 1993 air disaster

Efford Chabala (goalkeeper)
John Soko (defender)
Whiteson Changwe (defender)
Robert Watiyakeni (defender)
Eston Mulenga (midfielder)
Derby Makinka (midfielder)
Moses Chikwalakwala (midfielder)
Wisdom Mumba Chansa (midfielder)
Kelvin Mutale (striker)
Timothy Mwitwa (striker)
Numba Mwila (midfielder)
Richard Mwanza (goalkeeper)
Samuel Chomba (defender)
Moses Masuwa (striker)
Kenan Simambe (defender)
Godfrey Kangwa (midfielder)
Winter Mumba (defender)
Patrick"bomber" Banda (striker)

Also among the deceased was National Team manager Godfrey "Ucar" Chitalu who was arguably the best footballer ever produced by Zambia.

[edit] Honours

COSAFA Cup

Champions: 1997, 1998, 2006
Runners-up: 2004, 2005

CECAFA Cup

Champions: 1984, 1991, 2006
Runners-up: 1976, 1977, 1978, 1988, 2006

African Nations Cup

Runners-up: 1974, 1994

[edit] World Cup record

As the former British colony of Northern Rhodesia, Zambia did not participate in World Cup qualification play until after its independence in 1964. The country's football association was formed in 1929 and joined FIFA in 1964.

1930 to 1966 - Did not enter
1970 to 2006 - Did not qualify

[edit] African Nations Cup record

1957 to 1968 - Did not enter
1970 - Did not qualify
1972 - Did not qualify
1974 - Second place
1976 - Did not qualify
1978 - Round 1
1980 - Did not qualify
1982 - Third place
1984 - Did not qualify
1986 - Round 1
1988 - Withdrew
1990 - Third place
1992 - Quarterfinals
1994 - Second place
1996 - Third place
1998 - Round 1
2000 - Round 1
2002 - Round 1
2004 - Did not qualify
2006 - Round 1

[edit] External links

Zambia FA official site
The Gabon air disaster accident report

[edit] See also

The Munich air disaster killed several members of English side Manchester United F.C. in 1958.
The 1989 crash of Surinam Airways Flight PY764 killed a group of Surinamese players known as "The Colorful 11", whose members played professional football in the Netherlands.
The Torino A.C. side known as Il Grande Torino that dominated post-war Italian football was lost in an air crash at Superga in 1949.