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AFCON 2012 FINAL - THE GODS WERE PARTIAL!

Posted: Feb 19, 2012

AFCON 2012 waited till the very last day and the very last match to produce it’s best parts. It was like a great movie - full of excitement, suspense and drama. After 120 minutes, the final two teams could not be separated. Then the gods intervened. ‘Arrogant’ football analysts had to be taught a lesson in humility. Those that stuck out their necks and made predictions that did not suit the mood of the final chapter of the championship had to be humbled. For example, I had proclaimed before the start of the championship that I had peeped into the future and seen Ghana and Ivory Coast in the finals. Of course many would have been waiting to see me eat humble pie, particularly those from Southern Africa that did not take kindly to my analysis of how that region has been dominated through the history of African football by the giant teams of West Africa.


So, my prediction was slightly off the mark with Zambia not only deservedly qualifying for the finals but also going on to win it. I have my consolation though - the gods are to blame. It is only them that could have made me eat my words the way things turned out, as gods are not meant to be partial or to take sides in an ordinary game between two of their own where the better of two teams should always win. Instead, last Sunday night, they conspired with the elements, danced to the music of sentiments and emotions, and produced a final match that could not have been better scripted for it’s drama, excitement and unexpected ending that would humble ‘experts’.
In 120 minutes the world was treated to champagne football, a breathtaking performance put up by the two finalists. On the night though, Ivory Coast that had the slightly better of the goalscoring chances were not rewarded. Remember that they also had better records than Zambia in the history of the championship, and better results in this particular championship up till the final match. Ivory Coast were so good that any other result but defeating Zambia and winning AFCON 2012 would have to be considered an upset.


That was the setting before the final match - an Ivory Coast victory or a Zambian upset. Even the 12 million Zambian ‘army’ of supporters had only hoped rather than truly believed that their team that had played very well up till the final match would win the championship trophy. So, they turned into prayer warriors. I had always thought that no country prays like Nigeria. Nigerians know to pray. They actually introduced praying in a cluster on the field of play to the game of football. It is not uncommon to see Nigerian players even fasting and praying days before matches! I think Zambia must have taken a cue from Nigeria. I am told that the entire country went into a frenzy of prayer and fasting as the final match approached. Television camera’s captured bits and pieces of prayer sessions even during the match, before, at half-time and, particularly, during the dramatic penalty kicks. The Zambians also had other reasons to seek divine intervention.


Fuelled by the tragedy of 1993, there had been a build up of powerful emotions and sympathy for the Zambians. The memory of entire Zambian national team players that had perished in a plane crash off the coast of the same Gabon where the final match was now taking place was brought to life. On the eve of the finals the Zambian players paid an emotional visit to the site of the crash and where the remains of the players were buried, evoking their spirit to come to their support. The final match was, therefore, set against the background of this sentimentally and emotionally charged atmosphere. It was a script perfectly designed for a fairytale ending that only a Zambian victory could have produced. So the entire world watched, wished and prayed for Zambia to win.
The elements had no choice but to join in the conspiracy and to produce the great ending to AFCON 2012 that everyone wanted. And that’s exactly what happened - the gods, not football, decided the outcome of the match.




CHIPOLOPOLO - START OF A NEW FOOTBALL LANDSCAPE!
The Chipolopolo gave the world a truly magnificent and unforgettable experience. Young, athletic, raw and energetic, the Zambians made Africa proud with their passion, power, positive play, speed, skills, commitment, discipline, determination, attacking football and a newly discovered ‘will to win’.
They gave the world a good preview of what to expect in the change that their victory will bring to African football. African football will surely now produce a paradigm shift. A huge barrier has been broken by this victory that will give the Southern  and, perhaps, the East African regions the psychological boost to emerge from the shadow of self-doubt and lack of confidence.
Zimbabwe, South Africa, Kenya, and so on, will now take a cue from the Zambian success and experience, and approach their West and North African opponents with a new attitude and understanding. This was a mountain the region could not scale for decades. Now they have a possible way and answer.
The new kings of African football, these young, brave, very hardworking, intelligent, confident and committed Zambian players, will make rapid progress in the evolution of the best version of footballers from their region and produce a new landscape for football in the continent.




FORGOTTEN IVORY COAST
As things now gradually return to normalcy no one seems to remember the Ivoriens and the part they played in producing one of the most dramatic finals in the history of the championship.
No one feels a sympathy for the team that everyone considered favourites to win the trophy by virtue of their superior standing and ranking in African football, their collection of the continent’s current best players, the depth of their team’s experience and maturity, their unbeaten record throughout the championship (not conceding even one goal in regulation time) and their decent and consistent performance throughout the championship, and how fate dealt them a fatal blow. Didier Drogba, the goalscoring machine, had failed to convert a penalty kick that could have settled the match in regulation.
He kicked the ball so hard and so high above the crossbar that it flew into the terraces. Yaya Toure, Africa’s current best player and the anchor of the Ivorien team had played like a man in a trance, so poorly he had to be substituted before the end of the match. Ivory Coast could do nothing right in a match that was scripted by elements to reward the meek and the underdog!
So, the final match was all about Zambia. And what a performance they put up!




CURTAINS DRAWN
AFCON 2012 has come and gone but the memories, particularly of the final match, will linger for a long time to come.
It also will mark the end of the era of Drogba, Keita and their generation of players, and herald the start of a new era led by the new kids on the block led by Katongo, Mayuka, the Ayews, Agyemang, Msakni, and so on.
It has been a great festival that started rather slowly and poorly, but picked up and climaxed into a truly fantastic finale! Thats why the world is enthralled by ‘the beautiful game’ - you never know what to expect!
AFCON 2012 has been a great experience!


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Comments

  • Aaron

    Feb 24, 2012

    Hello Seg,

    Looks like Nigerians will rather not remember the 2012 AFCON. Can't blame them (us !),but permit me to say my mind on something I consider much more urgent;the new under 17 team.

    By yet again inviting another set of professional and national leaque players to the national under-17 team,the Nigeria Football Federation has demonstrated very sadly that the true objective of having this particular team is still a mirage in these shores.

    If a footballer,or any Nigerian person for that matter comes up and claims to be 17 years of age,there is really only one question to ask: ‘Which secondary school did you attend?’ The average school leaving age in Nigerian secondary schools is between 16 and 18.

    If the highest goalscorer in the Nigerian professional football leaque says he did not attend any primary and secondary school,when these are virtually free in most parts of the country,then I can’t see any reason why his pathetic story of abject social deprivation should not make headline news across the world.

    Every other year since 1985,Nigeria has been churning out groups of supposed teenagers without the slightest attempt to inform the public of the educational background of these obviously exceptional ‘young boys’.

    When a particular Nigerian player set a world record by playing (and very magnificently too ) in the world under-17 tourney at the age of 13,the federation never considered it worthy to find out,reveal and celebrate the primary school that must have produced such a wonderful talent.

    Incidentally,both the then 13 year-old and the other one that claimed to be 14 never progressed to play for the ultimate Nigerian senior National Team.

    It is very sad that,after over twenty years,the Nigeria Football Federation today has not realized that the lax handling of the Under 17 team over the years is the prime reason why Nigeria could not in 2011 boast of a national team strong enough to qualify for,let alone winning the Africa Cup of Nations.

    Just last week I heard a sports administrator saying on Brilla FM,’…afterall what do we want to achieve with the Under-17 team:Is it not to qualify and win the (under 17) world cup?’ I cried.

    The comments of the national under 17 coach on the same station,same day, were quite revealing: ’look,this boy (the leaque highest goalscorer) is very young.You need to see him,he is very young.He fits perfectly into the age bracket !’

    So there you have it.Our under 17 coaches pick players on the basis of looks.I have a professional colleague in his late 30s who today still carries the physical and facial looks of a teenager.How we all wish he had some soccer skills.

    The tragedy of the current under 17 selection is that it comes at a period when so many national inter-school competitions are being held.The Shell Cup,coordinated by soccer legend Segun Odegbami,has been held every year for maybe a decade now.

    The Lagos State Pricipals Cup which produced Stephen Keshi and almost the entire first generation of Nigerian youth internationals has been fully revived under sponsorship of Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB). There is also the Copa Coca Cola which has been a rampantly publicized event in recent years.

    All the football federation and the national under 17 coaches need do is to liaise with the technical coordinators of these schools competitions and collect the list of the best players spotted.

    The objective of having the current Nigerian national under 17 team,the Golden Eaglets, is and should be to discover the most talented teenagers who can be groomed to give at least five years of world class services to The National Team,the Super Eagles from 2016 (ie from the next four years when they would be aged 19 - 22).

    The pressure of setting (under 17) world cup winning,or even qualification targets to genuine under 17 players,when we know that age cheating is rampant in the developing world,is completely off the mark.It will only discourage and inflict an infeririority complex on the young boys.

    The only target that matters at this stage is to do a thorough scouting to select the very best of genuine under 17 kids.As the examples of Adokiye Amesiamaka,Segun Odegbami and a host of others have shown,the best footballers are those who combine raw talent with academic intelligence.

    And the problem with Nigeria over these last two decades has been the fact that most of our best footballers at school level do not bother to pursue a career in the sport because the structures on ground do not encourage them to do so.

    The Nigeria Football Federation must,as a matter of policy henceforth publish the academic history of each and every player that they invite to the national under-17 team. That is if they are sincerely committed to building a truly under-17 team and a great senior National Team for the future.

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