Zambia coach Herve Renard said team spirit was at the heart of his side's historic Africa Cup of Nations victory over the Ivory Coast.
Renard admitted his side were at time fortuitous in the tournament's showpiece match after they won the penalty shootout 8-7 following Didier Drogba's missed penalty in regulation time.
"I don't think that we are the best team but we had a great team spirit during the tournament and that made the difference," Renard said.
"We were lucky as well but I really feel that to win an Africa Cup of Nations you need luck. Everything went all right for us."
"It means so much. What we've achieved here was looking unrealistic before the competition started. But during the preparation and days into the competition, we realised that we needed to believe in ourselves."
Zambia won the tournament for the first time amid emotional scenes.
The final in Gabon held extra significance for the team as it was the country where a plane crash killed 18 Zambian players in 1993.
"Our generation is the first to win the competition," victorious goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene said.
"I don't even know what is happening back home but people have been waiting so long for this to happen. So, thank God that we were the first team to win this and hopefully we won't be the last."
Ivory Coast coach Francois Zahoui was proud in defeat, but conceded his side may have underestimated their opponents in the final.
"We didn't expect such a challenging final," Zahoui said.
"We go back to Abidjan with not too much shame. I think we played a good game. I congratulate Zambia."