South Africa has, in the past couple of weeks, been hit by what can possibly called the biggest mass killing in the country ever since gaining democracy in 1994, the Marikana Lomnin mine mass killing.
Despite the presidency calling for the commission of enquiry, most journalists, and other citizens, used, and still are, social networks to view their opinions and report about the whole issue. Here I will be looking at how top journalists Barry Bateman and Poloko Tau from EWN and THE STAR newspaper respectively have used social network Twitter to report about what is now being called the Marikana Massacre and the events that followed the accident. The third account I used was the ENCA (formerly known as E-news).
First up I will look at Poloko Tau from THE STAR newspaper that for me he is by far the one in the frontline of reporting about the whole Marikana issue on twitter. What makes him good in this situation is that, according to one of his tweets, he had a contact amongst the strikers and he was reporting live, he reported what he saw. And that didn’t only make him the best but also objective because regardless of what was happening he had to say it as it was and that was the only thing he was tweeting about and still is. What Poloko was, and still is, doing was purely reporting and taking into consideration that he works for a printing company, letting people know about what was happening every other minute was a priority, and at that time the best way to get the news across was through social media and Poloko went for twitter and it worked in the end.
EWN reporter Barry Bateman is another journalist who kept us informed in regards to the Marikana tragedy and also other issues. Because the Marikana tragedy was not a one-day thing, Barry become very helpful as he went on to tweet to us with court proceedings happening in Ga-rankuwa, although he was never in Marikana himself, and that was very good for someone who had been following the story since it began. I say that because I, for one, heard the news about the charges against the strikers being dropped from Barry through twitter. Despite being objective at most times, one thing I love about the way Barry reports, not only on this matter but in many others too, is that he brings in an element of opinion from a journalist point of view rather than just sticking to the 5W’s of basic journalism.
Now there was ENCA, they, just like Barry Bateman, had a little disadvantage to Poloko because even if they had cameras at the scene, they use their account for different stories. With that said, ENCA also used pictures and videos and that gave the edge of not only telling the story but also showing the story. That is the only and also most important difference ENCA had over Poloko and Barry.
Wednesday, 5 September 2012
Friday, 1 June 2012
Ethiopia game is a must win for Bafana
Bafana Bafana takes on Ethiopia in their 2014 Fifa World Cup qualifier in Rustenburg on Sunday. Bafana has been playing a disappointing brand of football and have failed to qualify for the past three African Cup of Nation, constantly blaming the conditions and the way they are treated when they visit Africa
Bafana's good record in Rustenburg
More than anything else, the Ethiopia game gives Bafana a chance to redeem themselves and show that they can still be seen as the powerhouse of the African football they were a decade ago. A good record that Bafana has in rustenburg(Bafana has won six of their previous seven games in the North West), must at least give them confidence going into this Group A encouter.
Pitso has regulars
In the past ,Bafana coach Pitso Mosimane has come out and complained in the media about certain overseas players not getting enough game time but now the interesting thing about the squad he has assembled is that most of the players,both local and abroad, are regulars in their respective teams and some of them have delivered outstanding perfomances in the past season.
With that said ,one player who must be giving Pitso sleepless nights is Bongani Khumalo. When khumalo moved from Supersport for Tottenham, he was probably the best player in the league but he has since went on to England to warm the bench. He has been on loan to championship side reading and played only four games before he got injured.
Apart from the Khumalo nightmare,Pitso has an option of going with newly signed Kaizer chiefs defender Morgan Gould and Bloemfontein Celtic's Mulomowandau Eric Mathoho. The media has referred to the pair as the 'twin towers'.
In the centre, he has captain Steven Pienaar,Reneilwe Letsholonyane,Teko Modise,July Mahlangu,Daylon Classen,Andile Jali,Oupa Manyisa and Thanduyise Kuboni who are all regulars in their respective teams.
No Sangweni?
Pitso might be spoiled for choice in the midfield department but the absence of Orlando Pirates defender Siyabnga Sangweni must really be something very difficult to deal with for the Bafana coach and the players. Sangweni does not only bring his defencive qualities to the field,but also his ability to score crucial goals as well as leadership skills.
Sangweni hurt his ankle in Bafana training and has been replaced by Mamelodi Sundowns’ Siyanda Xulu,who has great talent but it remains to be seen if he can fill the big boots of 'Nsimbi' as Sangweni is commonly known in the local football circles.
Mosimane must be praying that by the time Bafana plays Botswana, 7 days after the Ethiopia game, Sangweni would have recovered from the injury as Botswana is a tougher team compared to Ethiopia
Bhele's comeback
Moroka Swallows striker Siyabonga Nomvethe makes a return to the national team setup in the Ethiopia game and most peopl;,including fans,the technical team and his teammates,have been anticipating his return.
Nomvethe,who has just been named South African Footballer of the Year, PSL's Player of the Season,Players Player of the Season and Top Goal Scorer, comes back to the national team after almost two years of absence.The former Udinese striker netted 20 goals this past season.
Which formation to play
Siyabonga Nomvethe is probably the player shouldering the responsibility of scoring goals. To get the best out of Nomvethe,Pitso must put him alongside another striker,be it Katlego Mphela,Tokelo Rantie,Lehlohonolo Majoro or Thulani Serero.
Bafana has always had their best perfomances playing the 4-4-2 formation with a target man and it will only make sense for Pitso to re-introduce the formation if he wants to keep his job and the 2014 vision alive. PSL champions, Orlando Pirates have proved in the past two seasons that playing with two strikers and having wing play actually pays off and has always been South African football culture.
The time has now come for Pitso and his charges to stop playing the "blame" game and actually go out there and give it their all,respect the Bafana jersey and make sure they win all their home games as nothing less than a win will be unacceptable to the nation at large.
Bafana's good record in Rustenburg
More than anything else, the Ethiopia game gives Bafana a chance to redeem themselves and show that they can still be seen as the powerhouse of the African football they were a decade ago. A good record that Bafana has in rustenburg(Bafana has won six of their previous seven games in the North West), must at least give them confidence going into this Group A encouter.
Pitso has regulars
In the past ,Bafana coach Pitso Mosimane has come out and complained in the media about certain overseas players not getting enough game time but now the interesting thing about the squad he has assembled is that most of the players,both local and abroad, are regulars in their respective teams and some of them have delivered outstanding perfomances in the past season.
With that said ,one player who must be giving Pitso sleepless nights is Bongani Khumalo. When khumalo moved from Supersport for Tottenham, he was probably the best player in the league but he has since went on to England to warm the bench. He has been on loan to championship side reading and played only four games before he got injured.
Apart from the Khumalo nightmare,Pitso has an option of going with newly signed Kaizer chiefs defender Morgan Gould and Bloemfontein Celtic's Mulomowandau Eric Mathoho. The media has referred to the pair as the 'twin towers'.
In the centre, he has captain Steven Pienaar,Reneilwe Letsholonyane,Teko Modise,July Mahlangu,Daylon Classen,Andile Jali,Oupa Manyisa and Thanduyise Kuboni who are all regulars in their respective teams.
No Sangweni?
Pitso might be spoiled for choice in the midfield department but the absence of Orlando Pirates defender Siyabnga Sangweni must really be something very difficult to deal with for the Bafana coach and the players. Sangweni does not only bring his defencive qualities to the field,but also his ability to score crucial goals as well as leadership skills.
Sangweni hurt his ankle in Bafana training and has been replaced by Mamelodi Sundowns’ Siyanda Xulu,who has great talent but it remains to be seen if he can fill the big boots of 'Nsimbi' as Sangweni is commonly known in the local football circles.
Mosimane must be praying that by the time Bafana plays Botswana, 7 days after the Ethiopia game, Sangweni would have recovered from the injury as Botswana is a tougher team compared to Ethiopia
Bhele's comeback
Moroka Swallows striker Siyabonga Nomvethe makes a return to the national team setup in the Ethiopia game and most peopl;,including fans,the technical team and his teammates,have been anticipating his return.
Nomvethe,who has just been named South African Footballer of the Year, PSL's Player of the Season,Players Player of the Season and Top Goal Scorer, comes back to the national team after almost two years of absence.The former Udinese striker netted 20 goals this past season.
Which formation to play
Siyabonga Nomvethe is probably the player shouldering the responsibility of scoring goals. To get the best out of Nomvethe,Pitso must put him alongside another striker,be it Katlego Mphela,Tokelo Rantie,Lehlohonolo Majoro or Thulani Serero.
Bafana has always had their best perfomances playing the 4-4-2 formation with a target man and it will only make sense for Pitso to re-introduce the formation if he wants to keep his job and the 2014 vision alive. PSL champions, Orlando Pirates have proved in the past two seasons that playing with two strikers and having wing play actually pays off and has always been South African football culture.
The time has now come for Pitso and his charges to stop playing the "blame" game and actually go out there and give it their all,respect the Bafana jersey and make sure they win all their home games as nothing less than a win will be unacceptable to the nation at large.
Wednesday, 18 April 2012
THE NEW MEDIA
The past couple years have really been a blessing as far as the new media is concerned. According to the book new media by Terry Flew, the new media has evolved as the book takes us through how the new media or internet was founded up until it becomes the www that we use this day.
Previously we would not have a lot of people from certain place not having access to the internet but now with the rise in the use of the internet, there are people in some parts of the world who use internet and were no able to use the internet or people who were once located in the same area in the past couldn’t have access or had little access to the internet.
The World Wide Web has made it really easy to use the internet as it is referred to, in this book, as “bringing together computing and information technologies, communication networks and media content”. That is to say that the use of the www is not only for fun reasons but also for serious issues such as communication which in the past few years has been most probably the biggest job of the internet through facebook, twitter, my space. And a host of other social networks.
Previously we would not have a lot of people from certain place not having access to the internet but now with the rise in the use of the internet, there are people in some parts of the world who use internet and were no able to use the internet or people who were once located in the same area in the past couldn’t have access or had little access to the internet.
The World Wide Web has made it really easy to use the internet as it is referred to, in this book, as “bringing together computing and information technologies, communication networks and media content”. That is to say that the use of the www is not only for fun reasons but also for serious issues such as communication which in the past few years has been most probably the biggest job of the internet through facebook, twitter, my space. And a host of other social networks.
Friday, 13 April 2012
Vermezovic's sacking not the answer to all problems
By Nemarimila Morgan
Today the euphoria is about Vladimir Vermezovic’s sacking as Kaizer Chiefs coach. We all agree on one thing, it was long overdue. However it remains to be seen whether his departure will solve the club‘s long standing problems.
Kaizer Chiefs have recently struggled to get the quality material. We should also agree that his departure has nothing to do with the results, but rather the sour relationships, both with the players and the management as a whole. Considering the lack of depth in the chiefs’ camp, VV, as the Serbian is commonly known, did not do very badly on the field of play. It’s clear that dressing room politics, his relationship with the media and many other factors compounded to his downfall
Back to my point then, slowly but surely, Kaizer Chiefs tradition of purchasing the best players from the rest is dying. The Kaizer Chiefs I started following when I was very young has definitely changed. Since Patrice Motsepe took over at Sundowns some nine years ago, he has made the number one spot his as far as being a fearless spender on quality players and best coaches is concerned. This number one spot used to be occupied by Chiefs. I remember the days when Chiefs will buy any player they want whenever they want, whether his current team likes it or not. Things have changed. The current Chiefs will wait for a player to be out of contract in order to get him for free.
Talking about Chiefs compromising quality my memory is taking me back to where it most probably started. Remember the season Peter Ndlovu came to play in the PSL? It was not clear which team he would play for, but the race was hot between Chiefs and Sundowns and the latter procured his services at the end. Rubbing salt to the wound, it was around the same time when Brian Baloyi, who was at the peak of his career at the time, was snatched by the same team. I have to admit that the first season with Motsepe as a Sundowns president (between 2003 and 2005) was a nightmare to me as a Chiefs fan. I got used to it when my team failed to fill the gap which was left by Collins Mbesuma when he left for Portsmouth. (Agyemang and Djiehoua could not replace him)
A series of incidents of buying poor quality players explains why the current Chiefs lack depth. Chiefs’ management no longer care about having the lion share from the transfer season. They are fortunate that the players the bought from Zimbabwe have delivered understandably well, but with that said one can wonder if the new coach will be given the financial muscle to bring in whoever he wants to.
It also remains to be seen if chiefs will go for a local or foreign coach next season, but considering what the chairman once said about local coaches and Kaizer chiefs, that seem very unlikely.
Today the euphoria is about Vladimir Vermezovic’s sacking as Kaizer Chiefs coach. We all agree on one thing, it was long overdue. However it remains to be seen whether his departure will solve the club‘s long standing problems.
Kaizer Chiefs have recently struggled to get the quality material. We should also agree that his departure has nothing to do with the results, but rather the sour relationships, both with the players and the management as a whole. Considering the lack of depth in the chiefs’ camp, VV, as the Serbian is commonly known, did not do very badly on the field of play. It’s clear that dressing room politics, his relationship with the media and many other factors compounded to his downfall
Back to my point then, slowly but surely, Kaizer Chiefs tradition of purchasing the best players from the rest is dying. The Kaizer Chiefs I started following when I was very young has definitely changed. Since Patrice Motsepe took over at Sundowns some nine years ago, he has made the number one spot his as far as being a fearless spender on quality players and best coaches is concerned. This number one spot used to be occupied by Chiefs. I remember the days when Chiefs will buy any player they want whenever they want, whether his current team likes it or not. Things have changed. The current Chiefs will wait for a player to be out of contract in order to get him for free.
Talking about Chiefs compromising quality my memory is taking me back to where it most probably started. Remember the season Peter Ndlovu came to play in the PSL? It was not clear which team he would play for, but the race was hot between Chiefs and Sundowns and the latter procured his services at the end. Rubbing salt to the wound, it was around the same time when Brian Baloyi, who was at the peak of his career at the time, was snatched by the same team. I have to admit that the first season with Motsepe as a Sundowns president (between 2003 and 2005) was a nightmare to me as a Chiefs fan. I got used to it when my team failed to fill the gap which was left by Collins Mbesuma when he left for Portsmouth. (Agyemang and Djiehoua could not replace him)
A series of incidents of buying poor quality players explains why the current Chiefs lack depth. Chiefs’ management no longer care about having the lion share from the transfer season. They are fortunate that the players the bought from Zimbabwe have delivered understandably well, but with that said one can wonder if the new coach will be given the financial muscle to bring in whoever he wants to.
It also remains to be seen if chiefs will go for a local or foreign coach next season, but considering what the chairman once said about local coaches and Kaizer chiefs, that seem very unlikely.
Saturday, 17 March 2012
Derby reclaims its pride
On Thursday the 15th of may 2012 I tweeted the statement "What happened to the vibe we use to have before derbies 5 years back?...... It seems like nobody cares". That was a concern for me,I was worried that people have lost interest in the derby,but yet I didn't know who to blame; the teams for playing boring/direct football,the PSL for marketing the games poorly or us supporters for not being enthusiastic anymore when it comes to the domestic league.
Saturday the 17th saw arguably the biggest soccer match on the african continent take place at the world class soccer city in SOWETO. With 87,171 people in attendance of this showpiece,the stage was set and any result less than what we witnessed was going to be unacceptable.
Over the past few years we have been served with boring and draw derbies. Ex Chiefs and pirates players said the game this days don't have a match winner anymore,that player who single handedly hands the team a win,that Doctor Khumalo kind of player. The late Scara ngobese came in but never lived to the expextations, Tshabalala is more a winger,Jali doesn't have enough skill, one would expect Manyisa,mayambela or Lebese to produce that magic but they disappoint more than they lived to the expectations.
At the beginning of the week,Orlando Pirates announced the suspension of coach Julio Leal, it seemed to have been a suicidal decision when they lost 3-0 to Santos on Wednesday night but I personally knew it was the best decision for the buccaneers because they were bringing in someone who has been at the team for a long time and knows the culture of the team. The only thing that gave Ruud Krol the treble last season was because he listened and played with natural wingers, Leal didn't do it and he failed,now Palacios is doing it ,he won the derby I wouldn't be surprised if his reign last longer.
South African football is all about wing play, shibobos, tsamayas,show me your numbers etc,those skills make our football interesting. That is why most coaches,more especially foreign,come to south africa and win games but the end up getting fired because they aren't playing attractive football. The derby had goals ,was very competitive and interesting but it still lacked that one player who would come in around minute 75 and embarrass the opposition defence ,Mayambela came in but never delivered, lack of game time yes,but a professional player must always step up to the occasion.
Benni proved again what a world class player he is,a man of the match performance plus scoring two goals in a derby showed that he is the man fo the big occasions. The wingers Segolela and Klate did well to expose the Chiefs fullbacks ;Tau and Ritchie were unable to play their usual game because of Segolela and Klate constantly coming to them. The Chiefs defence was very shaky ,a Sweswe kind of player was needed ,the less said about their midlefielders the better,where was Nengomashe? Was he injured? I wonder. Lucky Baloyi is a good player but he always does good with Nengomashe or Letsholonyane behind him and with YeYe out for the rest of the season it would only make sense to have Nengomashe and one youngster at the heart of things.
With all that said, the game was a Thriller,Kaizer Chiefs showed character but unfortunately couldn't equalise ,pirates on the other hand showed composure by maintaining their lead in the game although they lost concentration when the game neared its end. The two teams both have tough tasks this coming week, Pirates are up against an in-form Mamelodi Sundowns as Chiefs will lock horns with Bloemfontein celtics.
Saturday the 17th saw arguably the biggest soccer match on the african continent take place at the world class soccer city in SOWETO. With 87,171 people in attendance of this showpiece,the stage was set and any result less than what we witnessed was going to be unacceptable.
Over the past few years we have been served with boring and draw derbies. Ex Chiefs and pirates players said the game this days don't have a match winner anymore,that player who single handedly hands the team a win,that Doctor Khumalo kind of player. The late Scara ngobese came in but never lived to the expextations, Tshabalala is more a winger,Jali doesn't have enough skill, one would expect Manyisa,mayambela or Lebese to produce that magic but they disappoint more than they lived to the expectations.
At the beginning of the week,Orlando Pirates announced the suspension of coach Julio Leal, it seemed to have been a suicidal decision when they lost 3-0 to Santos on Wednesday night but I personally knew it was the best decision for the buccaneers because they were bringing in someone who has been at the team for a long time and knows the culture of the team. The only thing that gave Ruud Krol the treble last season was because he listened and played with natural wingers, Leal didn't do it and he failed,now Palacios is doing it ,he won the derby I wouldn't be surprised if his reign last longer.
South African football is all about wing play, shibobos, tsamayas,show me your numbers etc,those skills make our football interesting. That is why most coaches,more especially foreign,come to south africa and win games but the end up getting fired because they aren't playing attractive football. The derby had goals ,was very competitive and interesting but it still lacked that one player who would come in around minute 75 and embarrass the opposition defence ,Mayambela came in but never delivered, lack of game time yes,but a professional player must always step up to the occasion.
Benni proved again what a world class player he is,a man of the match performance plus scoring two goals in a derby showed that he is the man fo the big occasions. The wingers Segolela and Klate did well to expose the Chiefs fullbacks ;Tau and Ritchie were unable to play their usual game because of Segolela and Klate constantly coming to them. The Chiefs defence was very shaky ,a Sweswe kind of player was needed ,the less said about their midlefielders the better,where was Nengomashe? Was he injured? I wonder. Lucky Baloyi is a good player but he always does good with Nengomashe or Letsholonyane behind him and with YeYe out for the rest of the season it would only make sense to have Nengomashe and one youngster at the heart of things.
With all that said, the game was a Thriller,Kaizer Chiefs showed character but unfortunately couldn't equalise ,pirates on the other hand showed composure by maintaining their lead in the game although they lost concentration when the game neared its end. The two teams both have tough tasks this coming week, Pirates are up against an in-form Mamelodi Sundowns as Chiefs will lock horns with Bloemfontein celtics.
Wednesday, 15 February 2012
SOUTH AFRICAN NEWS WEBSITES
I did an investigation on a few news websites found here in south africa. I used three websites and they all had more or less the same thing and a very few things were different.I used the websites Newa24,EWN, and the SABC.
The first website I went to was News24 which,and not taking anythin away from them,is not very good designed and do not have a lot of visible options in their side bars.
There was one great thing though about website is,unlike other news publication's websites,they often have to go deep into the details of almost every particular story if it develops or not and also decides on what angle it is to be used. They also a great balance between Local,african, or international content but they have a very poor sport-content balance because they give less attention to entertainment and sports.
The second website I looked at was the Eye witness news (ewn) website. Here you get news every minute of the day,but being a constant reader of the site myself I usually find some rathe feelings that they are targeting a white community and that may be because of the fact that when he cover sport stories they nevr cover local soccer unless it is a huge stories that ot only south africans are interested in.
The setup of their website is boring,it is too pure,which might turn out to be a good thing,but still they used colours that are not really appealing and do not really call you to come and read it. However, they have,by far, the best options bars because it has all been put on one page and it is clear which means it will be simple for everyone to see it. One thing that is very clear is that they are about news and that can be justified by the fact that they have very few and small advertisements on the site.
Out of all three news websites I visited the SABC one was the best one because they have the best links and they use the right colour for their website design and their news genres and catergories are well too clear.the only thing the lack however is the availability of advertisements in the site and that can sometimes work in their disadvantage.
Reading the SABC website you can also see that they are a public broadcast who target local audienc ,this you see because of the fact that they have local news as leading stories and internatonal stories are just there but not as a priority.
http://www.sabc.co.za/news
http://www.ewn.co.za/
http://www.news24.com/
The first website I went to was News24 which,and not taking anythin away from them,is not very good designed and do not have a lot of visible options in their side bars.
There was one great thing though about website is,unlike other news publication's websites,they often have to go deep into the details of almost every particular story if it develops or not and also decides on what angle it is to be used. They also a great balance between Local,african, or international content but they have a very poor sport-content balance because they give less attention to entertainment and sports.
The second website I looked at was the Eye witness news (ewn) website. Here you get news every minute of the day,but being a constant reader of the site myself I usually find some rathe feelings that they are targeting a white community and that may be because of the fact that when he cover sport stories they nevr cover local soccer unless it is a huge stories that ot only south africans are interested in.
The setup of their website is boring,it is too pure,which might turn out to be a good thing,but still they used colours that are not really appealing and do not really call you to come and read it. However, they have,by far, the best options bars because it has all been put on one page and it is clear which means it will be simple for everyone to see it. One thing that is very clear is that they are about news and that can be justified by the fact that they have very few and small advertisements on the site.
Out of all three news websites I visited the SABC one was the best one because they have the best links and they use the right colour for their website design and their news genres and catergories are well too clear.the only thing the lack however is the availability of advertisements in the site and that can sometimes work in their disadvantage.
Reading the SABC website you can also see that they are a public broadcast who target local audienc ,this you see because of the fact that they have local news as leading stories and internatonal stories are just there but not as a priority.
http://www.sabc.co.za/news
http://www.ewn.co.za/
http://www.news24.com/
Tuesday, 14 February 2012
Zambia Has a Few Lessons for Bigger Football Nations
Many are now asking what Zambia’s secret is after they cruised to African victory at the recent Cup of Nations tournament. It is simple - they have a well-run football association, under the guidance of football legend Kalusha Bwalya. That is a rarity in African football as many leaders of associations often fight to enrich themselves. The president of the association being a former footballer himself means that he knows what his players needs are and therefore takes care of them. Imagine football legends like Lucas Radebe running SAFA, Sunday Oliseh or Jay Jay Okocha in Nigeria, Misheck Marimo or Peter Ndlovu in Zimbabwe and the list goes on.
Despite the great support they received from their football association, Zambia also held the hopes of people in the southern Africa region after Botswana crashed in the group stages of the tournament. A few minutes before the final on Sunday the 12th February 2012 – many people showed their support for Zambia via social networks and that was proof that regional unity is possible through sport.
Before the start of the African Cup of Nations football tournament no one could have predicted Zambia would be the cause of much celebration on the streets of South Africa. In the absence of Bafana Bafana, which often fails to make an impact in such tournaments, Cameroon, Egypt and Nigeria, many tipped countries like Ghana, Senegal, Tunisia, Angola, Mali and finalists Cote D’Ivoire to be the ones who’d probably take the trophy home.
As the competition progressed it appeared there was one team, with predominantly local based players, that just kept on making them fall. Chipolopolo, as Zambia is affectionately known, had a few surprises opponents and they first proved their worthiness to be at the tournament by first getting rid of.
As the competition started people were talking about the likes of Didier Drogba, Asamoah Gyan, Seydou Keita, Andre Ayew, and Khaled Korbi, but nothing was ever said about Chris Katongo, Kennedy Mweene, Isaac Chansa, and Emmanuel Mayuka amongst others. These are Zambian names that just roll off tongues of any football loving African now. And it took just a few weeks for that to be the case.
It was quite amazing to see a team that nobody, including me, ever gave a chance beating the co-host Equatorial Guinea by one goal to nil, playing a 2-all draw with Libya and then finishing up their group campaign by beating the favourites, Senegal by two goals to one. It was after their 3-0 win over Sudan that got them a lot attention.
Then came the famous win against the star-studded black stars of Ghana who were African martyrs during the football world Cup in South Africa almost two years ago. They proceeded to face other giants of African football, Tunisia. And they cruised through them.
During the final Zambia, under the leadership of their ever-hardworking captain Chris Katongo, proved to be hungrier for the trophy than their opponents Cote D’Ivoire. Despite many questioning bad refereeing on social networks – the Zambians would constantly pick themselves up and go back into battle against the West African giants. And after the final whistle many across Southern Africa took to the streets of their various villages, towns and cities to celebration hard work which led to amazing success.
Despite the great support they received from their football association, Zambia also held the hopes of people in the southern Africa region after Botswana crashed in the group stages of the tournament. A few minutes before the final on Sunday the 12th February 2012 – many people showed their support for Zambia via social networks and that was proof that regional unity is possible through sport.
Before the start of the African Cup of Nations football tournament no one could have predicted Zambia would be the cause of much celebration on the streets of South Africa. In the absence of Bafana Bafana, which often fails to make an impact in such tournaments, Cameroon, Egypt and Nigeria, many tipped countries like Ghana, Senegal, Tunisia, Angola, Mali and finalists Cote D’Ivoire to be the ones who’d probably take the trophy home.
As the competition progressed it appeared there was one team, with predominantly local based players, that just kept on making them fall. Chipolopolo, as Zambia is affectionately known, had a few surprises opponents and they first proved their worthiness to be at the tournament by first getting rid of.
As the competition started people were talking about the likes of Didier Drogba, Asamoah Gyan, Seydou Keita, Andre Ayew, and Khaled Korbi, but nothing was ever said about Chris Katongo, Kennedy Mweene, Isaac Chansa, and Emmanuel Mayuka amongst others. These are Zambian names that just roll off tongues of any football loving African now. And it took just a few weeks for that to be the case.
It was quite amazing to see a team that nobody, including me, ever gave a chance beating the co-host Equatorial Guinea by one goal to nil, playing a 2-all draw with Libya and then finishing up their group campaign by beating the favourites, Senegal by two goals to one. It was after their 3-0 win over Sudan that got them a lot attention.
Then came the famous win against the star-studded black stars of Ghana who were African martyrs during the football world Cup in South Africa almost two years ago. They proceeded to face other giants of African football, Tunisia. And they cruised through them.
During the final Zambia, under the leadership of their ever-hardworking captain Chris Katongo, proved to be hungrier for the trophy than their opponents Cote D’Ivoire. Despite many questioning bad refereeing on social networks – the Zambians would constantly pick themselves up and go back into battle against the West African giants. And after the final whistle many across Southern Africa took to the streets of their various villages, towns and cities to celebration hard work which led to amazing success.
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