Soccer-Nations Cup future brighter after Zambia's poignant win

LIBREVILLE Feb 13 (Reuters) - Zambia's poignant and heart-warming triumph at the Nations Cup capped a tournament which was strong on emotion, easy on the ears and may be on the rise again after hitting a low point in Angola two years ago.

Lying 71st in the world rankings, with a squad based on little-known, African-based players and playing only a few kilometres from the scene of an air crash which wiped out their team in 1993, Zambian's win left even their own coach Herve Renard lost for words.

"They found the strength, I don't know where," he said after they beat the Ivory Coast's team of European-based players 8-7 on penalties on Sunday following a goalless draw.

"There is something written somewhere," added Renard, who himself abandoned a playing career after realising he was not good enough and spent 10 years running a cleaning company.

"It just felt right but it was not because of me, I don't know where it came from."

After winning, the Zambian team held up banners remembering their side who died in an air crash following a stopover in Gabon on the way to a World Cup qualifier in Senegal in 1993.

It was the sort of fairytale which simply could not happen in the big-money world of European club football and may help the Nations Cup to gain new appeal.

The tournament was once regarded as an exotic sideshow associated with the old cliches about colourful fans, tactically naive teams and voodoo on the pitch.

Around 10 years ago, with the influx of African players to Europe, it suddenly found itself being taken seriously, so much so that European club coaches complained at having to release their players.