October 7, 2008
by: Travis Mills
Germany
It was a frustrating day for Chipolopolo captain Chris Katongo as he unleashed a flurry of shots at his oppoents net, but was unable to break through as Arminia Bielefeld fell 2-1 at home to Karlsruhe SC on Friday.
‘Tsunami’ Katongo lead the team with four shots at the net, including a shot of the post in the 37th minute from 20-yards out. In an equally glorious chance, Katongo was denied from 10 yards away by the goalkeeper, who got low and reacted fast to preserve his clean sheet.
Karlsruhe went ahead in the 16th minute, and had doubled their lead in the 52nd minute. Nico Herzig cut the lead in half with a late consolation goal in the 86th minute, it proved to be too little, too late as Bielefeld was not able to register another shot on net in the final few minutes. Bielefeld drop to 16th place in the table, one point ahead of relegation territory, with only one win in seven games this season.
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The day was even more frustrating for Andrew Sinkala and FC Augsburg, losing 2-1 at RW Oberhausen, the decisive goal being a 25th minute Own Goal by Sinkala. Playing in the central-defense yet again, Sinkala was unlucky to knock the ball into his own net as he tried to clear a crossing ball from the right side. Sinkala did play well overall, and was a big reason why Oberhausen was held to only 2 shots on target for the rest of the match.
The battle of relegation teams took a turn for the worse early on, as Oberhausen went ahead in the 14th minute from a direct free-kick, and had their lead doubled ten minutes later from the Augsburg own goal. Imre Szabics would pull one back on 27 minutes for the visitors, but they could not find an equalizer. Despite Augsburg out-shooting their opponents 19-9, they sufferd their sixth loss in seven games this season, tied for last place with 3 points.
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Sweden
Helsingborgs IF blew an early lead at home to the team they are trying to catch for second place as they tied 2-2 against IF Elfsborg. Isaac Chansa did not play after acquring his fourth yellow card the previous game.
Congolese midfielder Rene Makondele put his team up in 28th minute on an assist from local hero and Swedish legend Henrik Larsson. The 42nd minute was a return of the favour, as Makondele set-up Larsson giving HIF a 2-0 lead at the half. Second place Elfsborg came out resurgent in the second half, and scored in the 53rd minute and equalizing in the 71st minute to give the game its final 2-2 scoreline.
Five games remain in the Allsvenskan season, HIF are 4 points behind Elfsborg for second, and Elfsborg are 3 points behind Kalmar for first. The top 3 teams plus the domestic cup winner receive places in next seasons Europa Cup (the redesigned UEFA Cup tournament).
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Further down the table, Ljungskile drew 1-1 away to Gefle IF. Edwin Phiri was not in the lineup after receiving a yellow card in the previous match, a loss to Djurgardens. Ljungskile are two points ahead of the same Gefle team who sit in the relegation play-off spot.
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Finland
RoPS Rovaniemi celebrated their second consecutive 2-0 victory with a road win over last place KooTeePee Kotka. Stephen Kunda anchored the backline, with Chanda Mwaba at striker, and Zeddy Saileti coming on in the second half.
Mwaba made an early entry in the referees book, not as he would have wanted, with a yellow card caution in the 16th minute. The game went into the half scoreless, shortly after the second frame, Saileti came on to bolster the strike force in place of a defender. This was a change RoPS could afford to make as KooTeePee is having one of the worst statistical seasons in Veikkausliiga history, a mere 8 points from 24 games.
Cameroonian Titi Essomba finally broke the deadlock in the 71st minute, and Juuso Majava added an insurance marker in the 90th minute to give the Rovaniemi squad their second consecutive win for the first time since May.
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AC Oulu’s promotion aspirations took a hit on Sunday as they gave up an early 2-goal lead at home to draw 2-2 with Atlantis FC Helsinki. Dominic Yobe started in the midfield, while brother Donewell Yobe made a subtitute appearance in the 73rd minute, but it was not enough to get the three points.
Dominic was the set-up man for Niko Kukka’s 12th minute opening goal, Oulu then doubled their lead two minutes later from Ivorian Mamadou Konate. Atlantis was able to regroup in the second half and cut the lead in half on 56 minutes. The Helsinki club would then draw level in the 82nd minute to give them a cushion in the relegation battle.
AC Oulu are now five points from a promotion playoff spot and seven points from first with five games remaining, both teams ahead of them have played one less game.
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France
Stade Rennais were knocked out of the UEFA Cup midweek by FC Twente, but bounced back for a collasal 3-0 victory at home against league leaders and 7-time consecutive defending champions Olympique Lyonnais.
The victory boosts Rennes up to 7th in the table, and only one point from a Europa Cup spot, while the first loss of the season for Lyon could be partially attributed to a fiesty midweek Champions League game in Munich.
Veteran French journeyman Mickael Pagis had the game of a lifetime, scoring a hat-trick at age 35.
Unfortunately, Felix Katongo did not make the bench on either game.
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In Ligue 2, Berrichone Chateauroux were defeated 2-1 away to US Boulogne. Jacob Mulenga remains sidelined with a minor injury.
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Portugal
Gil Vicente remained undefeated with a 1-1 draw at Uniao Leiria. Rainford Kalaba played 83 minutes before being substituted off. Gil Vicente have one win and four draws this season, and Kalaba is playing an ever increasingly important role in the lineup as he hopes to impress his crosstown club SC Braga who have loaned him out to the second division for this season.
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Tunisia
Fwayo ‘The Galactico’ Tembo started for Tunisian giants, Etoile du Sahel in the CAF Confederation Cup on Saturday.
Etoile moved a step closer to the finals after holding Ghana champions Asante Kotoko to a 2-2 draw in the Group B clash on Saturday at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi.
Etoile leads the pack on seven points, same as Kotoko but on superior goals with the duo of El-Merrikh of Sudan and J.S. Kabylie of Algeria in that order with a point less and a game in hand.
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South Africa
Collins Mbesuma missed Mamelodi Sundowns 4-2 home defeat to Joseph Musonda‘s Golden Arrows.
According to the club webstite, ‘The Brazilians started without a lot of their regular players, as Sibusiso Zuma, Benedict Vilikazi, Mbulelo Mabizela, Collins Mbesuma and Jorge Acuna were all missing from the starting line-up. Most of them were injured. ‘
Musonda scored his first goal of the season for Arrows.
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Surprisingly Power Dynamos striker Francis Kombe made his debut for Arrows without being cleared by the Zambian club.
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Kalilio Kakonje conceded two goals as his club, Amazulu went down 2-1 to Maritzburg United.
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First choice goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene conceded two goals but luckly Free State Stars beat Linos Chalwe‘s Bay United 3-2 in a thrilling encounter. Chalwe who came on in the 63rd minute scored his first goal for the campaign with five minutes to go.
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International left back, Noah Chivuta and Davies Nkausu did not make the substitute bench for Supersport United. United beat Thanda Royal Zulu 2-1 to join Clifford Mulenga‘s BidVest Wits at the top of the summit.
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39 Comments on "Zambian Players Abroad: Weekly Review, 06/10/08"
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Bola Panshi on Tue, 7th Oct 2008 8:10 AM
Things aint going that well at Tsunami and Sinkala’s sides. Perhaps like what someone said that our guys are too good for their teams.
Thanks for the update admin.
Sibs on Tue, 7th Oct 2008 8:48 AM
Bola Panshi its true Armenia are not doing well loosing at home is not good considering the were not playing some of the the big boys Hamburg,Bremen or Bayern.Though it’s till early days. Chris played the whole game.
On Nkausu i have followed most of his games he was suspended for this game he had 3 yellow cards. He has been a fixture in the Supersport line up. I am sure we will see him back in the team for the next game.
I am also impressed that Fwayo has continued to command a 1st place in the Etoile du Sahel team.This not a small club.It looks the Tunisian league has upped his game.
To the guys at Zamfoot thanks for the update.
Vincent Numbwa on Tue, 7th Oct 2008 9:04 AM
Thanks Travis & Zedfutball for the update. Good for Fwayo and Kalaba. Chris and Sinkala`s team not doing to well I can only hope they wont relagated.
Big Steve from SA on Tue, 7th Oct 2008 9:26 AM
Yes Nkausu is out due to the number of yellow cards he has got. Strong man for his size (hahah!!!) but his is playing very well, just a little surprised at Chivuta, Gavin seemed to be the one wanting to grab Noah from Wits and now he is not playing him just seems a little funny.
WAS TSUNAMI’S MOVE A GOOD ONE????
This is what I was talking about, the begining of the season always somewhat sets the pace, looks like Tsunami’s team wiill be battling relegation again. Brondby on the other hand have 2 wins and a draw and sit 3rd on the table 2 points from the top. Tsunami is not scoring so the bigger teams are obviously not taking notice, should the club get relegated then what for our captain. A lot of people who supported his move based it on that it opened more doors to bigger teams like Bayern. Not sure if you still think this is a reality. My humble opinion once again, Germany, brilliant league, Armania, not worth joining. Struggle to stay afloat way too often. Anyway like Sibs says its early days, lets keep our fiingers crossed and hope Big Steve swallows his words one day soon.
Kemps-Mwape Mwelwa on Tue, 7th Oct 2008 10:25 AM
Chivuta ca not play because Supersport United has exhausted the foreign quota and they have applied to home affairs to have Chivuta play as a permanent resident in South Africa and once his papers are ready he will play.
mika on Tue, 7th Oct 2008 10:34 AM
RoPS win means that RoPS cannot relegate from Veikkausliiga anymore in this season.
Mweetwa is not fully fit yet and Chibwe is injured too.
mabbwana on Tue, 7th Oct 2008 12:48 PM
The worst will be to have Sinkala and Chris’ teams relagated. Good to hear that RoPS have beaten relagation. We hope Mwetwa gets back before the season ends. Kemps, thanks for that info. coz I have really been wondering why Chivuta has failed to make the mark. Thanks Travis and Zamfootball for the update.
Seen from afar on Tue, 7th Oct 2008 2:02 PM
It must be frustrating for Felix Katongo. Hang in there, keep your spirits up.
Alex on Tue, 7th Oct 2008 4:04 PM
Scouts look for individual brilliance.
AS on Thu, 9th Oct 2008 11:04 PM
Guys,
Like I wrote yesterday, Chris’s team is not very good. Tsunami himself had a good game though he missed very good chances, the best being a shot that hit the upright. Then headers. But, from my conclusion, I think he is in a wrong team. Their midfield seems not innovative. I will not be suprised to see Katongos’ team relegated.
I hope better teams are looking at him. He seems to be a hard worker, but he needs to do more as well being a striker.