Former Chipolopolo Boys Head Coach Roald Poulsen has passed away at the age of 73.
The Dane managed the Zambia National Team from 1994 to 1996. During his spell with Chipolopolo, he won Bronze at the 1996 AFCON.
At the time of the crash, Roald Poulsen was a coach working in Denmark’s top tier.
With a strong pedigree, having already won both the Danish league title and cup, he was asked to take on the challenge of coaching an entirely new Zambia squad – one recruited at short notice that had never played together.
“Approximately three weeks after the disaster, I got calls from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Danish Football Association. [to ask] if I could help over a period of six weeks in Denmark,” The late Poulsen told BBC last year.
Roald Poulsen went on to spend many years coaching in Africa, including a role as technical director of Cape United academy in South Africa
The plan was for the squad to spend three weeks in camp in Copenhagen followed by three weeks in the city of Velje. They would play games against teams at different levels of the Danish league system.
The party was made up of 16 players, two coaches and a physiotherapist.
After six weeks he left and Ian Porterfield took over and just 12 months after the plane crash, the Chipolopolo emerged as surprise finalists at the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia, pitted against Nigeria.
When Porterfield left shortly after the final defeat to Nigeria, it was Poulsen who took over, spending two years in the job helping Zambia to win bronze in 1996.
After the 1996 AFCON edition, he returned to Odense BK in the Danish League and took with him Zambian internationals Mwape Miti and Andrew Tembo.
Poulsen coached BK Odense between 1988 and 1991 and from 1997 to 1998.
