Third time a charm, fate for Zambia

On their third trip to the African Nations Cup final the Zambian Chipolopolos won their first African title, defeating Cote d'Ivoire 8-7 on sudden death in the penalty shoot out.

This win comes nearly 20 years after the Zambians lost all but two members of the national team in a 1993 plane crash in Libreville, capital of Gabon. The final was played just 10 minutes away from that crash site, obviously a source of motivation for the Zambians based on how well they played.

The chipolopolos celebrate their first Nations Cup win after a dramatic penalty shootout

For a little bit of history lesson, the Chipolopolos were headed to Senegal for a World Cup qualifier in April '93, when the plane crashed, killing 20 players, 12 coaches and staff, as well as the flight's cabin crew. Less than a year later, the newly formed team made it to the final of the '94 Nations Cup before bowing out to Nigeria.

The Zambians were hardly the favorite coming into this year's Cup. They lost a pre-tournament warm-up match to Nigeria 2-0, who failed to qualify. And with the Black Stars of Ghana and the Elephants of Cote d'Ivoire expected to meet in the final, very few people predicted the Zambians could pull off an upset. But it's exactly what they did. Zambia took out Ghana in the semifinal, setting up the epic final on Sunday.

Cote d'Ivoire boasts an impressive lineup up made of stars on English Premiership teams— Didier Drogba, Gervinho and the Toure brothers, to name a few. So I expected Zambia to put up a decent fight worthy of justifying their place in the final. I didn't expect the Elephants to be flustered by their lesser known opponents, so much that Drogba, Cote d'Ivoire's best player, missed a penalty late in the second half. By then I was rooting for the underdogs, while hoping for a penalty shootout that would separate the men from the boys.

You can never underestimate the heart of a champion or interfere with destiny. The kind of destiny that helped unheralded American wrestler Rulon Gardner earn an upset win over Russia's Alexander Karelin in the gold medal match at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. Karelin, a three-time Olympic gold medal winner, was considered the greatest Greco-Roman wrestler in history and was riding a 13-year winning streak, which ended with a 1-0 loss to Gardner.

Rulon Gardner's upset win over Alexander Karelin was a shocking moment at the 2000 Olympics

That's the kind of destiny train the Zambians were riding. You could argue that the spirits of the '93 squad were on that field playing alongside their compatriots because the Zambians played like it. With each climatic penalty attempt the Zambians made to tie the Ivoiriens, they silenced their critics. Yet it wasn't until Stophira Sunzu clinched the win on the ninth penalty kick, after Gervinho's missed attempt, that destiny was fulfilled.

I'd say third time wasn't a charm for the Zambians, it was fate.