Win or lose, sports bring out our shared humanity

Sunday night saw the world transfixed on the happenings around a soccer ball in tiny Gabon capital city Libreville, in West Africa. A special day, indeed, not least because it was the closing ceremony of Africa’s biggest football extravaganza, but for a number of other reasons.

First was Zambia’s Chipolopolo’s remarkable feat of reaching the finals, flooring top guns Senegal, Ghana and finally Ivory Coast to lift the coveted trophy. Their dream arrival had a continent’s sympathy as their team died in a 1993 plane crash off the West African coast.