Eighteam is a 2015 Spanish/Zambian documentary film written and directed by Juan Rodriguez-Briso. It is based on the true story of the

Zambia national football team The Zambia national football team represents Zambia in men's international association football and it is governed by the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ). During the 1980s, they were known as the KK 11, after founding president Dr. Kenneth ...

. The team are commonly known as Chipolopolo - the "copper bullets"David Clement Ruffelle Scott, ''A Cyclopaedic Dictionary of the Mang'anja Language'' (Foreign Mission Committee of the Church of Scotland, 1892), p. 90: "Chipolopolo, 4, A bullet." and the film follows their journey from tragedy to glory.

Plot

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Chipolopolo were a very promising national football team and in the

1988 Olympic Games 1988 Olympics refers to both: *The 1988 Winter Olympics, which were held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada *The 1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

they surprised the world, and thrashed

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

4-0. Following this victory, they had their eyes on winning the

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...

trophy and qualifying for their first

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

in 1994. This was not meant to be. On 27 April 1993, a Zambian Air Force plane carrying the team, coaches and administrative staff, ditched into the Atlantic Ocean about 500 metres offshore from

Libreville Libreville is the capital and largest city of Gabon. Occupying in the northwestern province of Estuaire, Libreville is a port on the Komo River, near the Gulf of Guinea. As of the 2013 census, its population was 703,904. The area has been inh ...

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north ...

. All passengers and crew, including 18 players, died in the accident. Chipolopolo's captain,

Kalusha Bwalya Kalusha Bwalya (born 16 August 1963) is a Zambian former international association football, footballer. He is Zambia national football team, Zambia's Zambia national football team#Most capped players, eighth-most Cap (sport), capped player and t ...

was not aboard the ill-fated flight as he was in the Netherlands playing for PSV at that time and had made separate arrangements to make his own way to

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

to take part in the match. Two other players, Charles Musonda and

Johnson Bwalya Johnson Bwalya (born 3 December 1967) is a Zambian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He spent most of his career in Switzerland while representing the Zambia national team internationally. With Zambia, he participated at ...

also were not aboard. The

Football Association of Zambia The Football Association of Zambia is the governing body of association football in Zambia founded in 1929 and based at the "Football House" on Alick Nkhata Road in Lusaka, the country's capital. Affiliated to Confederation of African Football, ...

then put all their efforts into building a new team. The new team qualified for the

1994 Africa Cup of Nations The 1994 African Cup of Nations was the 19th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa ( CAF). It was hosted by Tunisia, who replaced original hosts Zaire. Just as in 1992, the field of twelve teams was ...

and only lost to Nigeria in the final. Kalusha Bwalya, went on to become the national team coach and president of the Football Association of Zambia. Eighteen years and 9 months later,

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

won the

2012 Africa Cup of Nations The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 28th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football ( ...

and

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea ( es, Guinea Ecuatorial; french: Guinée équatoriale; pt, Guiné Equatorial), officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea ( es, link=no, República de Guinea Ecuatorial, french: link=no, République de Guinée équatoria ...

, with the finals taking place a short distance from the place of the 1993 crash.

became African champions for the first time, beating the favourite

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

after a long penalty shoot-out. The film's name is derived from the fact that 18 players perished in the crash, there were 18 penalties in the final and 18 years between the crash and the final match.

Release

Eighteam premiered in

Lusaka Lusaka (; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zambia. It is one of the fastest-developing cities in southern Africa. Lusaka is in the southern part of the central plateau at an elevation of about . , the city's population was ab ...

(

) on the 50th anniversary of Zambia's independence. Since then, the film has been screened in several film festivals worldwide.

Awards

References

2015 films 2015 documentary films English-language Spanish films English-language Zambian films 2010s English-language films Zambia national football team Documentary films about association football Zambian documentary films Spanish sports films Spanish documentary films {{Best Documentary at the Africa International Film Festival, state=collapsed

Plot

Release

Awards

See also

References