Zambia in grand finale

Libreville off whose coast 19 years ago the national side perished en route to a World Cup qualifier in Dakar.
They face Didier Drogba’s Elephants, who defeated Mali 1-0 courtesy of a brilliant solo effort by Arsenal striker Gervinho, in the Gabonese capital later.
After Zambia’s stunning win over the Black Stars Renard said: “It was written in the stars that we had to return to Gabon in order to honour the memories of the national side wiped out in 1993,” said Renard.
“A team that is returning home and all of them die, is catastrophic for a country.
“Twelve million Zambians wanted us to go the whole way to Libreville. As soon as we arrive in Libreville, we will go to the spot where the plane crashed, not far from the stadium.
“It is imperative we play for them, for Zambia, because it is a fantastic country.”
Zambia booked their ticket to the final courtesy of substitute Emmanuel Mayuka who scored 12 minutes from time to give the Copper Bullets victory over the four time champions.
The goal came against the run of play with Isaac Chansa setting up the 20-year-old striker, whose shot from outside the penalty area flew past goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey into the corner of the net.
Ghana coach Goran Stevanovic refused to appear at the post-match press conference.
In his absence assistant Akwasi Appiah said: “We dominated almost all the match, they had only one or two opportunities, and scored with one of them.
“Zambia is a huge footballing nation, they deserve to be in the final.
“Everyone is very sad, the majority of the players cried.”
Later, in the Gabonese capital, a moment of brilliance from Gervinho secured Cote d’lvoire their fifth consecutive win in the 2012 competition and their place in Sunday’s climax.
The Elephants’ class and experience prevailed in an entertaining encounter set alight by Gervinho’s 45th minute goal.
Mali had struggled manfully to keep the orange tide at bay in a frenetic first half, until Gervinho made his mark with a little help from some slack defending.
Depriving Mali back Ousmane Berthe of the ball bang on the halfway line, the Arsenal star scampered hare-like down the left wing, leaving Malian pursuers in his wake to shoot right-footed past Soumaila Diakite and into the far corner.
Mali coach Alain Giresse pounded the dug-out with his fist in frustration.
Winning coach Francois Zahoui cut a composed figure afterwards, saying: “We had to manage some difficult times but luckily we scored just before the end of the first half.
“I’m proud of the boys, they managed the game with calmness and patience, and a little stress.
“We weren’t expecting such a tough game. I’m surprised by the work (Mali coach) Alain Giresse has done with his team, hats off to them.”
Giresse, an experienced coaching hand in Africa, said that reality had bitten his inexperienced side.
“We had some players missing, we tried to get along with what we had,” said Giresse.
“We almost succeeded, we could see the difference of a team with many experienced players and a developing team like ours.”
While the Ivorians, winners back in 1992, last made the final in 2006 when they came off second best to Egypt in Cairo, Zambia are appearing for the first time since 1994, when they were defeated by Nigeria in Tunisia.
Meanwhile, Ghana striker Asamoah Gyan exited the African Cup of Nations as public enemy number one among some Black Stars’ supporters after Wednesday’s quarter-final loss to Zambia.
The Sunderland forward, on-loan to Al-Ain, was on the receiving end of vitriolic abuse on social networking site twitter from Ghana fans who held him solely responsible for their team’s shock 1-0 demise.
Overlooking Gyan’s contribution in getting Ghana into the last four they honed in on his first-half penalty miss.
Awarded for a foul on Kwadwo Asamoah by Davies Nkausu, Gyan’s tame spot kick was saved by Zambia keeper Kennedy Mweene who, guessing correctly, dived to his left and pushed the ball away with his left hand.
Gyan, whose three goals were instrumental in Ghana reaching the 2010 Nations Cup final, was not at his sharpest and shot timidly at Mweene soon after when put through by Andre Ayew.
Gyan also missed a last minute penalty in the final minute of Ghana’s World Cup quarter-final against Uruguay, a fact that did not escape Black Stars’ twitter users.
Among the milder messages posted by disgruntled fans were: “Please I beg! Don’t take any more penalty shootings. Thank you @ASAMOAH_GYAN” and “I tried to defend @ASAMOAH_GYAN from the time he missed in the WC but this is too much you should retire from the team.”
Another read: “You let your country down again @ASAMOAH_GYAN”
This was an embarrassing end to a competition in which after conjuring up a superb goal from a free-kick against Mali in the first round he had described himself as “a great striker”.
The under-fire forward received support from his team captain, John Mensah.
The Ghana defender said: “I spoke to Gyan after the game. We all know that it can happen to anyone to miss a penalty. I told him to concentrate on our next match (Saturday’s third place play-off with Mali).”
Mensah said the mood in the Ghana camp was one of sadness.
“It’s tough to think of playing for third place, first we have to digest this game. We all wanted to make it to the final and win the title. Everyone is very sad, but I have to pick the players up and prepare for Saturday.” Ghana’s assistant coach Akwasi Appiah also lent his support to Gyan, saying: “It’s almost always the best players who miss penalties.”
Gyan could also seek solace from Gabon’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
The Panthers’ top scorer failed to convert his spot-kick in the 5-4 penalty shoot-out loss to Mali in the quarter-finals. – AFP.