Zambia’s national team arrived home to an ecstatic welcome from thousands of fans who gathered to greet the Copper Bullets after they won the country’s first Africa Cup of Nations title.

Brandishing the gold trophy they claimed in a nail-biting penalty shootout against Cote d’Ivoire on Sunday, the African champions waved to a massive crowd that had been gathering for more than nine hours in sweltering heat at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport in the capital, Lusaka.

The team then boarded a bus for the Lusaka show grounds, where an estimated 200,000-strong crowd dressed in the orange, green and black of the national team had gathered for official celebrations after an unofficial all-night party.

 … and win bonus

The Zambian government has given $59,000 to each player in the national side which won the country’s first Africa Cup of Nations title on Sunday, the sports minister said Tuesday.

“The government has given each one of you $59,000, and that is beside what the corporate organisations might decide to give. This money is from the government,” Chishimba Kambwili said on national radio.

The award is a princely sum in a nation where, per capita, the gross domestic product is less than $1,500.