Africa Cup of Nations: Zambia Achieve Greatest Upset Victory in ACON History

In classic David against Goliath fashion, Zambia outlasted Ivory Coast in the Africa Cup of Nations final to win the entire competition on penalties, eight goals to seven.

You couldn't have asked for much more excitement from the match. Sure, some observers were left displeased by the lack of goals over the 120 minutes before extra-time, but the action on the pitch was quick and fluid, providing for a great deal of excitement.

Didier Drogba's miss from the penalty spot in the 70th minute proved to be the game's deciding moment. The Ivory Coast captain, so repeatedly frustrated on the international stage, had a chance to finally claim his first Africa Cup of Nations title, but agonizingly blazed his penalty over the bar.

The miss galvanized the Zambian players to kick their game up a notch and increased the pace of the game, as both team had good chances to find the back of the net over the next 20 minutes and in extra-time.

The best chance of the game arguably belonged to Zambia, when the team's Katongos (Felix and captain Christopher) linked up to produce a close-range shot that Boubacar Barry could only push wide onto his post by the stubs on the bottom of his cleats.

In the penalty shootout, both sides produced well-taken penalty after well-taken penalty, with Drogba even stepping up to partially redeem himself before Gervinho's missed penalty and Stopilla Sunzu's converted one meant the ACON title belonged to Zambia.

It was the second time the Ivory Coast had lost a ACON final on penalties, after agonizingly losing to Egypt on penalties back in 2006.

For Zambia, this victory meant so much.

First and foremost, there was an overwhelming desire within the Zambia squad to honor the Zambia national team footballers who had died in an airplane crash in Gabon by doing as well as they possibly could at this Africa Cup of Nations.

Midfielder Isaac Chansa told the Zambian Watchdog about this motivation before the tournament: “The best way to honour the Zambian stars who died off the coast of Gabon is by doing well at this Cup of Nations.”

Harve Renard, Zambia's ambitious coach, went even further: 

"

It is my dream to win the Cup of Nations in Libreveille because a great part of Zambian football history was written there.

Imagine if we could lift the trophy — it would be a fantastic way to honour the memories of those who made the ultimate sacrifice while serving the land they loved.

"

These were Renard's words prior to the tournament, and he and his players were able to follow through on their wishes.

Secondly, as I said in my preview for the match, this victory served as the ultimate testament of the spirit and determination of the Zambians.

This was a squad with only two European-based players as opposed to Ivory Coast's 22, yet you couldn't tell that there was a significant gap in ability by how both teams played over 120 minutes in the final.

This was a squad who came into the final ranked as the 16th best team in Africa, as pointed out on Twitter:

I've often taken pride in how Egypt has managed to be successful in the past with a national team with few or no European-based players, but this achievement was so much more amazing.

Whereas many Egyptians choose to stay in their domestic league, Zambians will generally jump at the opportunity to play abroad. Unfortunately, due to Zambia's low FIFA ranking and the lack of attention they receive as a football country, their players are generally not scouted by Europeans.

Finally, what made this victory so amazing was that it really was one of the most difficult victories in Africa Cup of Nations history—perhaps the most difficult. 

Prior to 1996, all Africa Cup of Nations tournaments consisted of 12 or less teams. Early on, the tournaments consisted of four teams, then they expanded to five, eight, and so on and so forth.

That helps explain why unfavored teams liked Ethiopia, Sudan and Zaire were able to win tournaments early on in the tournament's history.

It's not my intention to take away from their accomplishments, but it is important to note that their victories involved at least two fewer matches than Zambia had to go through, and a much less arduous qualification process (also, Ethiopia and Sudan's victories came on home soil).

Since 1996, the tournament has only has only really been won by African nations most would consider to be "heavyweights," or at least not underdogs (Egypt, Cameroon, Tunisia, etc). In fact, Zaire's victory in 1974 in Egypt was probably the last major surprise ACON victory experienced in the tournament.

Given that historical perspective, Zambia's victory already looks amazing. But then consider the opposition Zambia overcame on their way to the title: Senegal, Ghana and the Ivory Coast. 

Honestly, I'd be surprised if there was a single person in the world who put a bet in that Zambia would beat even two of these three teams. Because let's be honest—we would've labelled such a person a mad man.

But Zambia won all their matches, and they did it with confidence in their unity and determination. Of course, they were helped by a bit of luck here in there, as all good teams are, but that luck wasn't what carried them to the trophy: it was their trust in each other and belief in their ability.

The victory will undoubtedly be remembered in Zambia for decades to come, and will go down in the history books as one of African soccer's greatest stories.

For Zambia's players, this match meant everything. For Zambia's coach, this match was all about helping his players achieve their dreams. Sometimes we get bogged down in the nasty, darker sides of football, but Zambia's victory reminds us of the intrinsic beauty of the beautiful game.