Last weekend marked a momentous occasion, not just for Manchester United but also for everyone who loves football as the living legend Ryan Giggs made his 900th club appearance.

In typical fashion Giggs marked the occasion with a late winner at Carrow Road to keep United’s title push on track. Now I could go on about all the trophies he’s won and the records he’s broken in his career but we already know plenty about that.

My first real memories of football were at the age of 7, the ones standing out the most being the sweltering World Cup ’94 in USA and Manchester United winning the double, with one player in particular becoming a star. A year earlier he had helped United win their first title in the top flight for 26 years and won the PFA Young Player of the Year Award. He continued his brilliant form in the double-winning season and he retained the PFA Young Player of the Year Award. A star was born.

Now I’m a Derby fan, but back then I followed United due to my Dad brainwashing me and me living in the North West where the majority of my mates supported them. At that moment in time Giggs was becoming the superstar of British football, he even had his own TV show, Giggs’ Soccer Skills, and released a book based on the series. I was an avid watcher of the program and persuaded my Mum to buy me the book, trying to recreate what he did on the pitch and pull off a few tricks. Along with King Eric he was everyone’s favourite player, the lads wanted to be him and the lasses adored him.

Who would have thought that 18 years down the line he would still be wearing the number 11 shirt at Old Trafford. Don’t forget that he was linked with various transfers to Italy in the ’90s, while at the start of this century some disgruntled United fans were getting on his back regarding his poor performances, saying it was time for him to leave. Boy did he prove them wrong, as he did with plenty of football fans. Fergie saw that he couldn’t be as effective on the wing as he was in his heyday, so he cleverly switched him into a central role that turned out to be a masterstroke. It’s certainly been key to his longevity along with all the yoga exercises he does.

The main aspect that impresses me about Giggs is how professional he has been throughout his career. I know he’s done some unsavoury things off the pitch in recent years, but on it you can’t fault him. He’s never been sent off in club football (the only red card he did pick up was whilst playing for Wales), he’s never moaned about being left out of the starting 11 and he’s been such an inspiration to the youngsters at United and Wales. He’s led by example and has been the cool head that United have needed in their success.

For someone to consistently play for one of the biggest clubs in the world for such a long time is an incredible feat, one that will not be replicated again. It’ll be a sad day when he finally hangs up his boots, I know he’s got a while yet but I really hope we do get to see him make that sacred 1000th appearance. Some people will say that it’s a little too far for him, but as he’s proved before, you can never say never in football.

The football world, England in particular, has turned into a sorry state of affairs in recent months with players bringing the game into disrepute and various incidents of racism between players and fans. Yet on a rainy night in Libreville, Sunday 12^th February, we witnessed the beautiful side of the game, a day that’ll go down in history as the fairy tale is complete; Zambia won the African Cup of Nations.

There were incredible scenes at Stade de l’Amitie as Stopila Sunzu converted the decisive penalty to seal the trophy for the first time in their history. The players and fans burst into tears of joy, their coach Herve Renard even carried the injured Joseph Musonda onto the pitch to celebrate with his compatriots. Just minutes into the match Musonda picked up a nasty injury and had to come off, he was clearly devastated as he left the pitch in tears so it was great to see him join in with the jubilation at the end.

For Zambia this was their dream come true, a fitting tribute to the ’93 national side that perished in a plane crash 19 years ago just a few kilometres away from where this years final took place. That team was destined for great things, they were being touted as one of the greatest African sides in history, but they sadly had their world ripped apart as they departed from Libreville to head to Senegal for a World Cup qualifier. 30 people died in the crash with 18 of them players, pretty much the whole squad. A golden generation lost.

One player who wasn’t on that fateful plane was Kalusha Bwalya, the greatest Zambian player to grace the game. He was making his own way to the match from Eindhoven where he played for Dutch giants PSV. Incredibly, just months after the horrific event he led a patched up side to the ACoN Final that they narrowly lost 2-1 to Nigeria. He is now the president of the Zambian FA and he more than anyone else will be so proud of this team. He was mobbed by the Chipolopolo bench at the final whistle, joining in with the celebrations and eventually getting the chance to hold the trophy aloft that he came so close to winning years ago.

It really was the story of the underdog, the spirit of the Chipolopolo shone throughout the tournament, fuelled by their tragic loss. You could sense the feeling that they feared no one and 100% believed they would make their way to Libreville and bring home the trophy, and rightfully so, they fully deserved it.

Considering Ivory Coast were the favourites you would of thought they would take control of the game but they just sat back looking to hit Zambia on the break, to no success. Even though Zambia gave away a penalty – which Drogba woefully put over the bar - they really took the game to The Elephants, with their brilliant attacking flair and creative set pieces they were the much more positive team on the night. There were times where they looked a little nervous but when it mattered most every player stood up to be counted.

Their inspirational skipper Christopher Katongo drove his team on and very nearly won it for them in extra time as his shot from 6 yards was tipped against the post. The charismatic keeper Kennedy Mweene, man of the match, produced a dominant display, claiming anything that went near him as well as saving two penalties (although one was wrongly ruled out for stepping off his line) and scoring in the penalty shootout. He also pulled off a comical “U CAN’T SEE ME” taunt at Drogba after his penalty blazed over the bar, which really made me laugh.

The penalty shootout itself was probably the best I’ve ever watched in my lifetime, finishing 8-7 with not a single one missed until sudden death. Bar the misses from Toure, Gervinho and Kalaba the penalties were superbly taken (England could certainly learn a thing or to from these lads!) Amazingly the fearless Chipolopolo were singing throughout, a very refreshing sight indeed.

We’ve heard many of the Zambian camp claim after the match that it was their destiny to win, midfielder Isaac Chansa summed it up with these words;

“It was very emotional and the memory of the players who died here played a big part,”

“Once (the organisers) said the final would be held in Gabon, we said ‘this is ours this time around’.

“It was written somewhere, you can see that from the miss of (Didier) Drogba.”

I’ve lost a lot of faith in the game in recent times and quite frankly I’m getting sick of it. But this moment has shown that whilst there is a lot of wrong doing happening in the football world, there is still some magic left in the game, long may it continue.

The African Cup of Nations started little over a week ago, from what we’ve seen so far it is certainly shaping up to be a very entertaining tournament. We’ve had plenty of goals, late wins, waterlogged pitches and one ridiculous display of play-acting that I’m pretty sure you’ve all heard about already! Very much like in the qualifying stages we’ve seen a fair amount of upsets too…

With top ranked national sides Cameroon, South Africa, Nigeria, Algeria and Egypt all failing to qualify we knew this years competition was going to be very different to the usual tournaments. As a result of this we see 3 debutants in Niger, Botswana and co-hosts Equatorial Guinea.

Some people were expecting this year’s tournament to be poor compared to ones in the past but it’s turned out to be rather fascinating. With the group stages coming to a close you can definitely see the gap tightening between the powerhouses and the minnows of African football. I’ve chosen to write about one group in particular that stood out to me.

In Group A we’ve witnessed some of the biggest shocks in the tournament so far with potential favourites Senegal getting knocked out and minnows Equatorial Guinea qualifying to the knockout stages for the first time in their history.

Senegal crashed out of the group stage after losing all of their matches. For a team boasting the best attack in the competition they failed miserably as Ba, Cisse, Niang and Sow managed just one goal between them.

Their lack of goals and shambolic defending summed up a terrible week for the Lions of Teranga and I’m sure there will be plenty of questions asked of them when they arrive home.

Unlike Senegal, Libya can be very proud of their efforts as they narrowly missed out on qualifying for the next phase despite all the troubles in their homeland in the past year.

After a disappointing opening game defeat to Equatorial Guinea they bounced back with a hard earned draw in torrential conditions against Zambia. Needing to win their last match to have any hope in qualifying they produced a brilliant display as they beat Senegal 2-1 – their first win in the competition since 1982- with Ihab Al Bouseffi scoring both goals, the second being an absolute peach as he rifled it in on the volley after a wonderful pass from Ahmed Zuway.

But unfortunately it wasn’t enough and so their fairy tale ends, albeit with their heads held high.

The co-hosts/lowest ranked team in the competition Equatorial Guinea have surprised us all, I bet they’ve surprised themselves too!

They got off to a great start as they beat Libya 1-0 thanks to a late strike from ex-Real Madrid winger Javier Balboa, netting themselves a controversial $1 million bonus in the process.

A few day’s later things were going to get better for the National Lightning as they defied the odds to beat Senegal 2-1 on a dramatic night at the Estadio de Bata, not only eliminating the Senegalese but also sealing a place in the quarter finals. There were jubilant scenes as the home fans spilled onto the pitch to celebrate after David Alvarez’s 25 yard strike deep into stoppage time found the back of the net to seal the win. Senegal had equalised only 4 minutes earlier so you can imagine the emotion inside the stadium.

Already qualified they only needed a point against Zambia to win the group, but it wasn’t to be as the Chipolopolo won 1-0 to steal the top spot from under their noses. Despite the disappointing result they’ve produced a remarkable achievement to even make it to the quarter finals and with the home support behind them they could well pull off another surprise yet.

So that leaves us with the winners of the group Zambia, who remained unbeaten throughout the group stage and are dreaming of making it to the final. Even more so to pay a fitting tribute to the ’93 national side who sadly perished when their plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean just offshore from Libreville, Gabon (where this year’s final is taking place) in what is one of the worst disasters in football history. 

They pulled off the first major shock of the tournament as they beat Senegal 2-1. The Chipolopolo came racing out the blocks as their talisman Emmanuel Mayuka headed in from a free kick in the 12 minute. Rainford Kalaba extended the lead just 8 minutes later with a cool finish. Senegal managed to pull a goal back in the second half but Zambia held on for a surprise victory.

Their next match against Libya arguably shouldn’t have gone ahead as the pitch was in a terrible state, with kick off delayed by more than an hour due to a heavy downpour. Strangely enough this made for a very entertaining match, although not a pretty one with both teams having to resort to ping pong football to get up and down the pitch.

Libya took an early lead just 4 minutes in but Mayuka popped up again with a goal to level the match in the 29^th minute. Just after the break Libya went in front again with a 2^nd goal from Ahmed Saad after he capitalised on a defensive error. But Zambia came storming back in style as captain Chris Katongo headed in the equaliser from a beautiful bicycle-kick assist from the flamboyant Mayuka. The Chipolopolo nearly grabbed all 3 points in stoppage time but the Libyans managed to hang on for the draw.

Zambia went into their last match against Equatorial Guinea knowing they only needed a point to qualify, but even more so if they won they would top the group. And that’s exactly what they did as skipper Katongo sealed a 1-0 victory midway through the second half, cutting in from the left and hitting a low drive into the bottom corner from 18 yards.

So the dream is on for the Chipolopolo, the question is can they go all the way? I don’t see why not, I’ve been very impressed with their fluent attacking style and spirit. With the inspirational Katongo and attacking flair of Mayuka and Kalaba they can cause any team problems, they showed against Senegal that they fear nobody and are ready for the challenge. Above all they have the incentive to win it more than anyone else and will be driven by the loss of their compatriots 19 years ago.