Thank you for tuning in to watch chapter 1 of 4 of Zambian Heroes as we follow the story of success, tragedy and the return of the national team to lift the nation of Zambia to championship glory!
The year is 1988, in Seoul, South Korea. It’s the group stage of the Olympic football tournament . The nation of Zambia’s football team were placed in a group with Iraq, Guatemala and Italy. After Zambia left with a 2-2 draw after their first match against Iraq. Leaving the match with only 1 point left a sour taste on the players who were determined to qualify to the knockout stage. Only the top two teams would make it and with Italy beating Guatemala 5-2, Zambia and Iraq shared a tie for 2nd at the moment.
The referee blows his whistle and Zambia kicks off the ball and controls possession away from Italy. During the first half Zambia dispossessed Italy at midfield and with 1 quick pass followed by a through ball to the left side of the 18 yard box Kalusha Bwalya powers his left boot through the ball aiming to the far right post. The Italian keeper reaches down to parry it away but the shot is too powerful and ends up in the back of the net. Zambia celebrate an improbable goal and more improbable lead against the European giants.
Going into the halftime break Zambia leads 1-0 but they knew more would need to happen to secure a victory. As the 2nd half got underway Zambia was awarded a free kick outside the left part of the 18 yard box. Then Kalusha shows his cunning side. He slowly walks towards the ball. The two Italian defenders think he will pass it off to a teammate and start to drift away from their position. Bwalya makes them pay and whips his left boot at the ball bending on the near side of the wall and beating the keeper to the near post this time.
Zambia lead 2-0
Then they start to pour it on… Johnson Bwalya dummies a defender to the outside and pulls it inside, moving towards the middle of the field and shoots, giving it ample top spin and bending it beautifully beyond the outstretched arms of the keeper.
Zambia lead 3-0
Again another opportunity comes for Zambia as defenders for Italy mix up their assignments and another defender leaves Kalusha onside. Kalusha Bwalya is all alone and looks the keeper in the eyes before slotting the ball in the 5 hole directly through the legs of the keeper.
Zambia lead 4-0 and what started as elation for leading Italy has transitioned into, a team that knows they are the better side.
As full time expires, the story is sealed. Italy are stunned. A young team from Africa shocked the world. A young Zambian team with loads of opportunity and a chance to become a dominant force in global football.
Zambia faces off against Guatemala and puts them to bed with a 4-0 victory in the last game of the group stage and helps them qualify out as the top seed of group B. Zambia was on to the knockout stage! Hopes were certainly high within the Zambian side after their big win over Italy. They hoped to ride that momentum into a win in the quarterfinals that could propel them to a medal game. Which would have been Zambia’s first team sport medal to capture.
Even though the team came short of a medal game, they did far better than anyone thought they could achieve and were heroes in Zambia for standing up to Italy. Heroes have a story, heroes that were writing the first chapter in one of the greatest sport stories of all time.
Join us next time as we discover the continued pursuit of football glory and the tragic plane crash that ended their story far too soon.