MATHEWS KABAMBA, STEPHEN PHIRI, Kitwe, Lusaka

FREEMAN, son of former national team goalkeeper Efford Chabala, has paid tribute to his mother Joyce and the extended family for their role in raising him and his siblings. The legendary goalkeeper died alongside 17 other players and 12 officials in the 1993 Gabon air crash as the national team was on its way to Dakar for a 1994 USA World Cup qualifier against Senegal when the ZAF Buffalo plane plunged into the Atlantic Ocean in Libreville, killing all the 30 people on board. Chabala was 33 at the time of his death. Today, it is 29 years since the crash that wiped out the crème de la crème of Zambian footballers who were tipped to qualify for the World Cup finals in 1994. On Monday, Freeman, who had initially sought to follow his father’s footsteps by taking football as a career, graduated with a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in biochemistry from the University of Zambia (UNZA). Freeman was barely seven years old and in Grade Two when he lost his father. Reflecting on his latest academic achievement, the former Red Arrows, Nkwazi and Lusaka Dynamos striker said in an interview that it was his father’s dream that all his six children attain the highest level of education. “Even before my PhD, the inspiration has CLICK TO READ MORE