Perhaps one of the most memorable Africa Cup of Nations finals ever, Zambia battled in Egypt against neighbors Zaire in the final of the 1974 tournament that was played over two games after the two teams drew 2 – 2 in the first game only for the match to be replayed two days later.
Zambianfootball.co.zm traces the team’s path to the final.
First Round
Under the tutelage of Ante Buselic assisted by George Sikazwe, Zambia started the qualifiers for the 1974 tournament in April having not been involved in the preliminary play-offs with a first round two legged tie against Madagascar.
With Bernard Chanda, Godfrey ‘Ucar’ Chitalu and unsung hero Simon Kaodi Kaushi leading the strike force, Zambia were dangerous going forward and the free scoring team kicked off the qualifiers with a 4 – 3 aggregate win before moving on to play Nigeria. Chitalu scored 2 of the four goals.
22nd April, 1973 – Dag Hammarskjoeld Stadium, Ndola Zambia
Zambia 3 – 1 Madagascar (Burton Mugala 4′, 58′, Godfrey Chitalu 65′)
5th June, 1973 – Antannarivo Madagascar
Madagascar 2 – 1 Zambia (Godfrey Chitalu 43′)
Second Round
Zambia eased past Nigeria with a 7 – 4 aggregate score-line in the second round with Kaushi accounting for three goals and Chanda two goals in the two legged affair to book a ticket to the Egypt finals.
15th July, 1973 – Independence Stadium, Lusaka
Zambia 5 – 1 Nigeria (Bernard Chanda 31′, Simon Kaushi 58′, 70′, Brighton Sinyangwe 60′, 75′(pen))
11th Novermber, 1973 – Lagos Nigeria
Nigeria 3 – 2 Zambia (Simon Kaushi, Bernard Chanda)
FINAL TOURNAMENT
First Round
2nd March, 1974 – El Mahalla Stadium, El-Mahalla El-Kubra, Cairo
Zambia 1 – 0 Ivory Coast (Simon Kaushi)
4th March, 1974 – Cairo International Stadium, Cairo
Egypt 3 – 1 Zambia (Abdel Azim 4, Taha Basri 18, Ali Abugreisha 52 | Godfrey Chitalu 10)
6th March, 1974 – El Mahalla Stadium, El-Mahalla El-Kubra, Cairo
Zambia 1 – 0 Uganda (Obby Kapita)
At the finals, Kaushi handed Zambia an opening game victory over Ivory Coast before Zambia succumbed to a 3 – 1 loss against the hosts Egypt. This time Godfrey Chitalu was back on the score-sheet.
Zambia secured a semi-final pace with a slender 1 – 0 win over stubborn Uganda with Obby Kapita scoring the lone goal to secure maximum points and set-up a meeting with Congo who topped Group B.
Zambia finished second on 4 points in Group A behind leaders Egypt who had 6 points.
Semi-final
9th March, 1974 – Alexandria Stadium, Alexandria
Congo 2 – 4 Zambia (Ndomba, M’Pele | Bernard Chanda x3, Joseph Mapulanga)
With the final in sight, Zambia put four past reigning champions Congo. Bernard Chanda who was the team’s pole striker stepped up to score a hat-trick as Zambia cruised to the finals with a 4 – 2 win over Congo.
Final
12th March, 1974 – Cairo International Stadium, Cairo
Zaire 2 – 2 Zambia (Mulamba N’Daye 65, 117 | Simon Kaushi 40, Brighton Sinyangwe 120)
By this time, everyone was aware of the prowess of the new team on the block and it was the under dogs Zambia who took the lead in the 40th minute with a goal from Simon Kaushi. However, Zambia went into the game knowing Zaire had a greater weapon in Mulamba N’Daye who had already scored 5 goals prior to the final.
N’Daye equalized for Zaire in the 65th minute for the game to go into extra time during which he dded another with three minutes to play.
However Brighton Sinyangwe grabbed an equalizer with virtually the last kick of the game in one of the most dramatic Africa Cup f Nations finals in history.
Final Replay
14th March, 1974 – Cairo International Stadium, Cairo
Zaire 2 – 0 Zambia (Mulamba N’Daye 30, 76)
With penalties not an option in deciding the match winner at that time, the match was replayed two days later and unfortunately, the Zambia defense failed to deal with N’Daye, nicknamed the Assassin of Katanga, as he went on to score a brace to give Zaire their second title.
Dick Chama who partnered Captain Dickson Makwaza at the heart of the Zambian defence was named in the team of the tournament.
Bernard Chanda who was the youngest of the three strikers in the Zambian team at the tournament managed to push for a starting position ahead of Chitalu and his record of a Zambian scoring a hat trick at the tournament stood for 22 years before Kalusha Bwalya netted three at the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations tournament in a game against Sierra Leone on 24th January, 1996.
The 1974 team laid the marker and announced Zambia as a force in African football.
[Chimuka H]
Amazing…thank you so much for sharing this…i hope the boys are inspired once again…and that Kalu is thinking of leaving the game in peace as the FBI close in lol…luck he didnt receive the ‘credit’ in America or else he would have been arrested by now!
Fantastic… I just pulled up last year Africa Cup tea and compare pictures… You can cry how low will have gone. The age group is same, stamina is double in the 70s. Today the players looks like UFOS.
So nomba apa after 1972 where was the team? Went into oblivion?
The best team ever! First or second to the departed boys and to the reconstituted team of 1994/1996 depending on your take. I miss them boys. We watched them religiously and listened to running commentaries from the legendary Dennis Liwewe. Zambia, we mourn and we remember!
You had to watch these guys to believe. Yes they may not have won the Afcon (lacked the motivational power of HR as most of them did it out of passion and there was a limit on what to expect from them….)but they’re a class above the rest. For me the Afcon 1982 bronze winning ranks 2nd.
I can’t hold back my tears
@Uncle Bobs I go with you. The 1982 was an excellent class. Second to the above. One would hardly forget the likes of Peter Kaumba, Alex Chola, Jack Chanda, Ken Mwape, Jerricho Shinde, Michel Musonda. These guys were ever on form whenever they played and they took long to hang their boots.
I watched all these guys luck me
Couldn’t wait to hear from the veterans of the Zambian game here…. Justice, Uncle Bobs, YEAH U C OF LBSS…. thanks.
Please watch-out every Thursday for some interesting Flash-backs.
All these talented throwbacks n just one afcon cup? Lol
Talented indeed
Jack Chanda, Kaumba, shinde, Chola smh……. When we payed for country and passion for the game…!!!
Real champions and very dedicated not these modern players who abandon ship first,what a skipper,useless teaspoon champions.
If they were so talented n cldnt win a cup against their peers then it means their were half baked
Nice piece of writng @Chimuka.So much inspiring.Hope our team wil soon get back to winning ways at AFCON.
what’s our probable 1st eleven against malawi?
zamfoot this is one nice article keep it up
The prominent thing with this generation was the passion with which they played.Carrying their own boots to training,sleeping on single mattresses in camp,washing their set of jersey for the next game and just the sheer attitude of never say die!The other thing was their stamina!They had a collective physical presence that would send shivers in your spine!Even the shortest of them all like kaizer kalambo,Milton Muke packed such stockiness that one would need a bulldozer to dislodge them from the ball.
When they played, you were sure, Godfrey Chitalu, Bernard Chanda, Obby Kapita, Jani Simulambo, Brighton Sinyangwe or later Jericho Shinde, Jack Chanda, Peter Kaumba, etc could not have three scoring opportunities and miss them all! You knew one of them would score. Even Bubble Malitoli could not miss 5 sure goals without scoring two. These pretenders must pack their bags, please!
To me it seems Bernard chanda was the main man during the run to the finals. But its Godfrey chitalu who is always celebrated.
And the less celebrated Simon Kaushi Kaodi