Zambia can benefit from underdog status

My heart says Cote d’Ivoire will win but the head is firmly fixed on a Zambia triumph, nonetheless, Sunday’s final of the 2012 African Cup of Nations in Libreville, Gabon, is statement of how African football has taken a whole new dimension.I can’t wait to see these two great sides battle for the right to replace record winners, Egypt as Kings of African football. The Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire were my pre-tournament favorites , but the Chipolopolo have been tough to beat throughout the tournament, so their appearance in the final is by no means a surprise.Going into the final, many observers, casual and experts are labeling Herve Renard’s team as underdogs, and rightly so, but I believe they can easily use this status to their advantage. More pressure is on the Ivorians to win, which leaves the Zambians to play with nothing to lose.Teams that play with nothing to lose are very dangerous opponents, as Cote d’Ivoire could find out Sunday evening. Against Ghana in the semifinal, Zambia were outsiders to win but they did, albeit being second best for longer parts of that game.Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana were everyone’s favorites to contest the final yet Renard and his payers had other ideas. Credit to the Chipolopolo players for sticking to their free-flowing football, and if they can keep doing what they’ve been since the start of the tournament, a shock win is on the horizon.Ghana never played like a team on a mission to add a fifth African crown to their name, and honestly didn’t deserve to reach the final, while Didier Drogba and his ‘Golden generation’ teammates are playing like their careers depended on this particular tournament.This is the last throw of the dice for the older players like Drogba, Didier Zokora, Kolo Toure, Goso Goso to sign off on a high as this appears to be their last Afcon appearance before leaving the international stage for the young blood. That said, I think Zambia are a tough and well-disciplined side and their French coach Renard must take his share of credit. The good-looking 39-year old former cleaning company executive is on the verge of achieving something special, and if the oppositions give him half a chance, he will make them pay so they (Ivoirians) will have to be on their toes.Renard is in his second spell in charge since 2008, and unlike many foreign coaches, who come in for a handful of games, the Frenchman has provided stability and good leadership for the squad. I wish our Ferwafa people can take a leaf from his book. Stability is the key to success. Changing coaches every other year has never yielded anything positive.Fate favors ZambiaBesides the coach, the other motivation for Zambia is the terrible tragedy which befell their squad in the 1993 air crash in Gabon.The crash happened on the seashore near the venue for Sunday’s final in Libreville, and it’s one of those extraordinary concurrences that make one feel as though destiny could be on their side.The current Zambia FA president Kalusha Bwalya, the country’s most famous footballer, survived the tragedy because he was not travelling with the team at the time.Now, how befitting would it be to remember those who perished in the crash, if his country wins the tournament for the very first time on the venue not so far away from where the crash happened?Having said that, my heart is predicting Cote d’Ivoire to win the African title for the second time, but the head tells me Zambia because my earlier prediction was for an underdog to triumph in the absence of superpowers Egypt, Cameroon and Nigeria.