AFTER eight protracted years of waiting, Zambia finally secured its 2023 AFCON slot with a resounding 3-0 home victory over tournament hosts Ivory Coast at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola. It was indeed an electric and enthralling atmosphere where the 2012 AFCON champions ended their unprecedented three successive AFCON no-shows. Over seven coaches have either started or ended the painful qualifying process but Avram Grant has pushed the Chipolopolo across the finish line and into the African football promised land. The AFCON birth rite has been restored, a disaster has been avoided and the morale of the nation has been bridged. Just when the nation needed something to lift its spirits in a difficult economic time and something to melt...