Emmanuel Mayuka, left, celebrates after scoring Zambia’s winning goal against Ghana in their Africa Cup of Nations semi-final. Photograph: Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters
Zambia reached the African Cup of Nations final for the first time since 1994, upsetting Ghana 1-0 Wednesday night to advance to the championship against tournament favorite Ivory Coast.
Emmanuel Mayuka scored in the 78th minute for Zambia, tied for 71st in the Fifa rankings.
Later at Libreville, Gabon, Ivory Coast defeated Mali 1-0 on a 45th-minute goal by Arsenal forward Gervinho. Sunday’s final will be at Libreville, the site of Zambia’s worst sporting disaster in 1993. A plane carrying Zambia’s national team to a World Cup qualifier in Senegal crashed just minutes after taking off, killing 25 players and officials.
“There’s something written that we have to go to play to honor the memories of the Zambia national team that died in 1993,” said Frenchman Herve Renard, Zambia’s coach. “It was catastrophic for the nation.”
Ghana, which beat the United States en route to the 2010 World Cup quarterfinals, could have gone ahead in the eighth minute, but Asamoah Gyan’s penalty kick was saved by goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene.
In the World Cup quarterfinals against Uruguay two years ago, Gyan’s penalty kick in overtime went off the crossbar, and the Black Stars were eliminated in a shootout.
At Libreville, 18th-ranked Ivory Coast went ahead when Gervinho capitalised on a defensive error to race half the length of the field and shoot past goalkeeper Soumaila Diakite. Les Elephants are seeking their first title since 1992.
By Fred Kiyingi Musisi, Daily Monitor
