Zambia players lay flowers in memory of the 1993 plane crash victims ahead of Afcon final

The Zambian national team laid flowers by the Atlantic Ocean in Libreville on Thursday ahead of their 2012 Africa Cup of Nations final game against Cote d’Ivoire on Sunday.

The team visited the symbolic site where their entire squad died in a plane crash en route to a World Cup qualification game against Senegal in 1993.

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Even though most of the players were children when the crash happened 19 years ago, they were led in the ceremony by Zambia Football Association president Kalusha Bwalya, who narrowly missed that flight in 1993 because he had flown direct from his base in Europe to Dakar.

Bwalya, who has been drawing similarities between this team and the perished squad, later captained the side that reached the final of the 1994 Afcon before losing to Nigeria.

“They have the same determination, attitude, confidence and motivation as the fallen team (of 1993),” said Bwalya, according to The Star of Zambia.

“You can see they have a connection with the class of ‘93. They know our history and there’s no need to constantly remind them of it.”

Nineteen years after that crash, Zambia will look to win the tournament for the first time against the Ivorians, the highest ranked country in Africa. Even they have exceeded expectations.

“The fact is nobody gave us a chance to reach the final here. Of the teams that reached the semi-finals we were probably considered fourth (in the pecking order). But we managed to beat Ghana. It was an incredible result for us and nothing stops us from repeating it on Sunday,” said Bwalya.