72 Comments on "Morocco thrash Zambia"

AS on Thu, 20th Nov 2008 12:13 AM 



We have serious problems Renard. Just watch this space and see what he will say. FAZ s not spared in this matter. Though we didnt have a full squad, just listen to the mentality of the coach. He will say Zambia cant match countries like ,Morroco.Bullshit. He has ignored to call proper players and with no contingencies in place? At the end of the day, its Zambia and FAZ shall be held accountable.

chilewe on Thu, 20th Nov 2008 12:40 AM 



It seems we just cant get it right at the moment,now it looks like the blunt strike force has been sadly joined by a porous defence & weak midfield.Hopefully COACH RENARD & his team have taken note of the areas that need to be worked on, in order to create the right balance & establish a winning formula.Its only through such high profile friendlies that we will get better.FAZ should be encouraged to continue with this spirit-GO ZAMBIA GO!

Chipantepante on Thu, 20th Nov 2008 12:50 AM 



This was expected, but no cause for discouragement!

CK on Thu, 20th Nov 2008 1:17 AM 



Have mercy

mulusa on Thu, 20th Nov 2008 1:19 AM 



3-0 is dissapointin with all our stars playing,we need a stronger defence and strikers that know how to find the goal

Cho on Thu, 20th Nov 2008 1:25 AM 



edwin phiri, boyd wila sinkala

Zam Uk on Thu, 20th Nov 2008 1:37 AM 



Same old rubbish. Let me tell you my opinion .

Firstly the issue about the professional players and their passports , cannot believe it , how can a professional not renew his passport or check for visa requirements , this same carelessness and lack of maturity is expressed on the field . One thing you can never change is character and its for sure .

Secondly half the zambian regulars did not even turn up . Faz needs to be more serious and they should let clubs know the consequences if they dont release these players .

Thirdly we need every professional whether in finland or playing division 2 in germany .Herne get serious and call all these players sichone , sinkala and the rest . We want every professional to be tried and tested . Forgot the bullshit politics

lets start serious preparations , this is a wake up call , north africa teams play similair so learn from this . Time to wake and stop the playing around . Cant afford to waste the zambian people’s tax money on an un fruitful campaign . be serious and teach the players about passport and visa formailities please.

Wayaya on Thu, 20th Nov 2008 6:15 AM 



It was a shame!H.R. Still experimenting and feel he has to play cards right if zambia has to beat egypt.

Jacob rarely score.We want goal thirst players who can unsettle opponents.Zambian players wake up!

Taj on Thu, 20th Nov 2008 7:19 AM 



Much as we say we should be playing big teams,we should bare in mind that such results are discouraging the same big teams from playing zambia,because right now just as we can say we can not learn anything from chad,even teams like nigeria,ghana,tunisia,etc will say the same about zambia.my honest opinion is that we dont have enough quality in our team to compete with the likes of EGYPT,us zambians we must stop dreaming,we can never qualify to the world cup @ the expense of EGYPT,even if we bring in players like sinkala we wont solve our biggest problem “scoring” & the others compaining for boyd mwila,edwin phiri & so forth dont cheat yourselves,i have watche those two many times.we shouldnt also forget that sichone was chased from his former club due to porous defending that we even saw when he played in the 1-0 loss against south africa,zambians lets be realistic & stop dreaming.

Spaks on Thu, 20th Nov 2008 7:20 AM 



im speechless to say the least

Mphatso on Thu, 20th Nov 2008 7:40 AM 



Well, well…Taj. You know why Zambia doesn’t seem to progress? Its because of the negative attitude that you just displayed in your post. Unfortunetly, this same attitude is also evident in our players. The current crop of players simply needs psychologists, they dont have a self belief. We need to encourage and support them. We have the talent guys. I have watched so many local league games, and I have no doubt that we have so much talent in zambia. All we need is somebody who can tell these boys that they can do, we can do it.

Jimbo on Thu, 20th Nov 2008 8:02 AM 



Shit happens!hope hr will pick up the pieces & prove us wrong when we meet egypt.zambian 4 ever

Billy SA on Thu, 20th Nov 2008 8:05 AM 



This is really dissapointing. But there is still room for improvement. I still remain positive.
This is the best players available we have. Particularly our defence. This is all we have got as at now. Unfortunately we dont have any other good defenders to replace the existing ones. This has been the problem even in the previous AFCON in Ghana where Cameroun thrashed us 5-1.
I have the foolowing suggestion in the fourth-coming matches which may improve the situation in my opinion:
In the coming matches, in the midfield, maybe the presence of Sinkala, Felix, Kalaba and Chansa will improve the situation. I am for the idea that the coach plays Jacob and Mbesuma/Chamanga upfront with Chris just behind them. Defence-wise, there is very little we can do about it. As long as our midfield is strong, it will somehow help our weak defence.
We should not however lose hope. We have learnt something from this match. The more big matches we play, the better we will become. Thats the all idea of playing strong opposition so we can improve on our mistakes. Rarely have we played strong opposition in friendly matches. We always used to play Botswana, Malawi etc. Its better to lose in these friendlies from a strong side so we can learn, than play weak opposition during preparation and then get clobbered at actual tournaments by cricket scoreline: Remember Cameroun 5, Zambia 1 at previous AFCON.
So now we know what to expect from Egypt and Algeria.
The coach should also take advise and know which players to play. Most of the players that played are not even playing active soccer at their respective teams. I am sure there is a lot to learn from this thrashing. Now imagine playing Egypt now. Egypt is far stronger than Morocco.
Meanwhile Egypt thrashed in-form Benin 5-1. Ever improving Bafana beat Cameroun 3-2.
Good luck Chipolopolo.

Taj on Thu, 20th Nov 2008 8:08 AM 



You can encourage them but just encouragement is not enough,i have watched the local league aswel & i hapen to live in an area which has two premier league teams sharing the same stadium so i have watched all the 16 teams.we just have to be realistic,we are all zambians & no one is happy to see the boys losing.how can we win when we dont even have a steady,calm & mature goalkeeper,i dont even understand why its only us who travel during friendlies,why cant these teams follow us aswell?knowing the truth is very painfull most of the times,just like south africa our football is too much on the mouth & very litle on the pitch.its a shame.mpatso quality ni mpatso,gong’a ni gong’a no mater what you try.

Romantic Monk on Thu, 20th Nov 2008 8:14 AM 



Any body with ZPL results.

Billy SA on Thu, 20th Nov 2008 8:22 AM 



Taj my brother, there is still room for improvement. Be positive. The problem with some Zambian soccer teams is that whem we win a big match, we are all behing the team. When we lose, we start criticisms and utter negative utterances. We should learn to be consistent.
Bafana Bafana is improving slowly because of good and strong opposition teams they have been playing. Because they have taken it seriously now with 2009 confederations cup and 2010 coming. As Zambia we can also do it and we will do it.
Once Zambian always Zambian.

Sceptic on Thu, 20th Nov 2008 8:30 AM 



There is nothing positive, the fact that the boys lost is nothing to be proud of. they cant even score. How many goals has zambia scored under Renard? First it was 5-1, now 3-0 and you say we should be proud. Get a life gentlemen.

Goddy on Thu, 20th Nov 2008 8:41 AM 



i agree with you Taj its not just a psychological thing here pipo. The gulf that exists between the great arabic teams(Morrocco, Egypt, Tunisia) and us is so big which ever angle you look at it, whether players produced, there local leagues, its going to take some performaces by our lads to qualify ahead of Egypt. Am just trying to be realistic.

jeff windhoek on Thu, 20th Nov 2008 8:42 AM 



i dont think im so dissapointed coz i expected it.This will actually give the coach a thing to think about. We as soccer fan have advised this coach to consider other players but is big headed,so i think that gives him a taste of arab flavour.i tend to disagree with with taj, There are very few teams that will win in casablanca.morrocco have not lost at home to even a team like egpty lately so to be honest if u were expecting zambia to win this game then it is you in the dreamland.There is alwayz hope HR must do his home work well on player selection

Sibs on Thu, 20th Nov 2008 8:47 AM 



The result is disappointing.But this is not the end thats why it is a friendly where we can learn.Taj i would like to agree with you on issues like we need to play friendlies at home as well.Egypt for sure have a better team on paper than us just because we lost yesterday does not mean we can’t make a challenge to qualify for the World Cup.I don’t agree with you that based on yesterday result then you right off the team
World Cup qualification requires you win all your home games & get a result on the road.Thats how Angola qualified last time in a Group which had Nigeria.
Had we gotten a draw i don’t know what you would have said?To play N.Chivuta in defence is sucide the guy is a Midfielder.Like Zamfoot says the Morrocans play a fast game(especially at home) and use the wings very well. Since i did not watch the game i can’t say much but one thing i remember is that even early this year when we played Morocco we concided a penalty in that game we lost 2-0.The defence must have been under a lot of pressure & like guys have said some of the players are not playing at club level but the started in defence & i don’t know how Tana did with the quick Moroccan frontline .
This is not the end we should not throw in the towel just because got beat badly last night.

Kolokombwa on Thu, 20th Nov 2008 8:49 AM 



This is worrying. It looks like we are still many steps behind these Arabs. One thing comes out though. Should Tana still be in the team – I think let him play the Chan games. Joseph Musonda was outpaced; Noah Chivuta is not a fullback – that experiment should stop

GIUSEPPE on Thu, 20th Nov 2008 8:51 AM 



AWE RENARD IS DOING NOTHING 20PIN DOLLARS FOR WHAT? SUCH RESULTS ARE DISGUSTING TO SAY THE LEAST. THE MAN HAS NO VISION. NO STRATEGY. HE IS ALWAYS COMPLAINING ABOUT THE DRAWS THEN ABOUT STRIKERS. PEOPLE SHUD BE CAREFUL ,SOME OF THESE SO CALLED EXPATRIATES ARE CONMEN. REMEMBER ONE BURKHARD ZIESE WHO CAUSED ALOT HAVOC IN ZAMBIA & MALAWI. PATRICK PHIRI WAS A FAR MUCH MUCH BETTER COACH THEN THIS PRETENDER OF A COACH OR PHYSICAL TRAINER WE HAVE.

Mulekwata Amano on Thu, 20th Nov 2008 9:01 AM 



I have one ultimatum for Physical Trainer Herve Renard: Qualify the local team for CHAN Championships or you will not be given any respite monsier! You failed with the Under 20 when the team had one foot in the finals. If you are failing to show us anything in the friendlies I doubt you will qualify us for anything. I may be wrong but i stand to be corrected. There will no longer be any patience in us if we continue with such losses and unbalanced team selections!

Justice Kafusha on Thu, 20th Nov 2008 9:10 AM 



I do understand all you guys who are concern about our team. It is a plain fact that our team has not done well for a long time now and I understand that it can be difficult to be postive. One area that worries me is the coach, I do not think he really knows what he is doing. It is his job to organise the defence, I mean how do other teams manage. First of all he needs to deploy a system that suits to the quality of players you have. It is not just saying we shall play 4-1-4-1, 4-4-2 or 4-3-3, the system has to be chosen in accordance to the material at his disposal, but I very much doubt if he at all thinks in those lines. In my opnion we need medfielders and wingers who can as well help the defence. The current Zambian midfield set up has players who are attaching minded and forget to assist the defence.

I watched the England Vs Germany game last night and I should Fabio has transformed England into something else, cause it was not only the back 4 who were defending when attcked but almost the entire team

We have to wake up and change the mentality of our players. Besides that the coach should only pick players that are featuring for their clubs and not people who not regulars at their respective clubs. In other countries if you are not playing regulary at your club you autmatically loose your place in the National. This in my opinion is very good because it makes players work hard in traning in order to win places at their respectiv clubs

Although I remain positive, I have a feeling our coach is scared and having sleepless nights at the thought meeting meeting Egypt and Algeria and remember Rwanda are no pushovers and if we are not carefull we may end up missing out even on the AFCON in Angola

I did not expect us to win in Morocco but I expected to loose with respect, being clobbered 3-0 whether away nor at home does not give respect at all

Anyway let us see what happens next

Justice Kafusha on Thu, 20th Nov 2008 9:14 AM 



It seems Nchanga Rangers are in trouble, chaba shani kanshi

Big Steve from SA on Thu, 20th Nov 2008 9:15 AM 



Cast the net wider, cast the net wider, this is the song us fans have been singing for so very long. HR is so mind blocked on one set of players.
Chivuta is not a defender. I for one thought he would give us an attcking from the back option but now I think I must be real, the man is not a defender. I am not sure of what happened to Musaonda he is usually fine, not outstandinly fine but fine. As for Tana, well I think I have said it before, his time is up.
Taj I disagree with you. You make it sound like Zambia does not have the capacity to build up and be formidable opposiition to North African teams, well you are dead wrong my man. We have the capacity it is just building this and making our capability fruitfull. If you asked me just three months ago if bafana could beat Cameroun I would have laughed in your face but alas, the result of good team building and steady management.
I personally am not one to quickly blame the coach but I think there is a huge problem with this coaches reasoning behind creating depth and casting the net wider. The sad thing is that even in the next game he will be using these same guys, doing the same thing expecting different results.
We have what it takes just sad that the persoon mandated to mould our team has got it all wrong. I honestly did not expect us to beat Morroco but three goals turns a game from a competion to big boys whipping small boys.
When are we going to realise that none club performing players should not make the team. Mbesuma, Nkausu, Chivuta should not have made the team.
Funny though the coach will stilll aroggantly not assses anymmore players and will still arrrogantly not build a pool of players. We have the man power, you cant say the genes in zambian blood that beat italy have all died! the talent is there it is how we mould it together.
had it been 1-0, I would have been stilll been beaming,2-0 still had some heart, but 3-0 I am heart broken and out of it.

Georgia Russia on Thu, 20th Nov 2008 9:28 AM 



honestly speaking it was a good friendly,its going to give hr some thots of what soccer fans have been calling for.our defence has been our weakest point since the last days of litana and group.we need to select players on merit.kakonje dispite playing at his club has been a suspect,hes allowed so many goals and i feel he does not derserve to be in the national team,nkausu,hh,chintu are yet to taste what i would say real international soccer,they need expsoure and but to me they are not so good to depend on,i feel sichone,billy,musonda,tana with hh maybe can do better,the midfield looks ok to me provided players like sinkala are partnered with isaac,rainford,hachipuka.our strikers have not been scoring.mbesuma should take a break until we see improvement from him.all in all the coach shud cast his net wide.let them play as many friendlies as possible

atlanta,ga on Thu, 20th Nov 2008 9:45 AM 



i only watched the first half of the game,the only thing i can say is let the coach cast the net wide coz we are lacking a substitute/reserve bench that can raise the tempo of the game when the regulars are down like what hapened today/yesterday.let the team play like a basketball team ,attack and defend together unlike what i saw livin the defendin to the defence.while am zambian for life win /lose i will support yall the only solace is that WALYA NGANGA NDYE WALYA NKHUKU won today and we still chasin zescolo.KABWE WARRIORS til death do us part.

Ba Zambia, JHB SA on Thu, 20th Nov 2008 9:45 AM 



Gentlemen, Let’s not ignore the main problem here.
FAZ. FAZ. FAZ. FAZ. FAZ. FAZ. FAZ. FAZ. FAZ. FAZ.
FAZ has no idea on how to make money, except through “gate takings and donations from the mines”
Thats why they employed a Physical trainer instead of a Coach/Manager?
We should have let Hanif Adams run the show and maybe
he could have turned the whole league into a money making business
meaning we could have afforded a Coach NOT a Physical Trainer.
We need a tactician up in there.

Mabbwana on Thu, 20th Nov 2008 9:54 AM 



I should say these are very interesting results for the local league especially relegation battle hotting up. Zamfoot please give us the updated league table.

Back to the game yesterday. Its good we played Morocco at this stage. It was a friendly and like I wanted, it brought out our weaknesses. Bitter as it may be, we should take this loss as learning curve and see were we pick it from unlike throw in the towel like some guys tones are sounding.

We only have one Zambia and we cant afford to throw our chipolpolo out as crap just because they got a hiding, no guys no. You dont disown your child or call him crap just because he under performs at school, do you?

Renards defence has never really been tested since he took over apart from his first game against Togo. This I think was the first time we have faced a seriously formidable side going forward as most you would agree with me. Against Swaziland, in Mbabane they seemed scared and were content sitting back as we played trying to catch us on the break, at Chililalabombwe the red card meant they sat back again. As for Togo when they came, it was one way traffic.

Our current defence will surely struggle against any formidable attack and coupled with our lack of fire power in front of goal we need to work very very hard to make a strong challenge.

Unfortunately we don’t have too many options in defence as Edwin Phiri alone or even Sichone will not solve the problem, but may definitely part of the solution if they make the grade.

In midfield, we have too many attacking midfielders at the expense of defensive midfielders, leaving us wanting when we want to kill the game and probably the cause of our troubles when we play teams with a lot of pace. This is why we keep shouting for Sinkala.

Upfront, lets face it, we need a serious overhaul.

There’s 4 months guys, we can seal the holes.

atlanta,ga on Thu, 20th Nov 2008 10:02 AM 



it so funny watchin noah chivuta playin left back coz i used watch him as winger at rail grounds in kabwe, i think playin him in that position is wrong coz the guy has no defensive qualities and his skinny,let the coach use him in front like pa kabwe the way we used him, u will see the true noah.

Taj on Thu, 20th Nov 2008 10:11 AM 



There is a difference between patriotism & patriotism flatery,am a concerned zambian who can not sit back & start praising the team when they are doing totally nothing,we shouldnt be suprised when these big boys refuse to play friendlies with us because @ the moment there is nothing they can get from us,lets not cheat ourselves that we can qualify ahead of EGYPT who even withdrew from the CHAN just to concentrate on qualifying to the world cup.there is alot to be done if we even have to qualify the cup of nations,dont forget zambia lost the last two games against rwanda home & away,.guys lets be realistic,no goal in two games,wow.

Justice Kafusha on Thu, 20th Nov 2008 10:37 AM 



As long as HR is coach combined with the chaps at FAZ, we will never get anywhere beleive me you. He is not the right coach He is full of pomposity and arrongance. If he was a clever coach he would have followed most of the Zed players locally, in SA and Europe just from the time he came by this time he could have looked at everyone and made a decision as to who would be in his future plans. But this guy has been depending on recommendations from people who have failed to coach. In my eyes he is the biggest problem FAZ have created in Zambia soccer, a coach who can not listen and additional a know it all FAZ. The Zambia National team is for all Zambians and not only a few individuals

Employing a coach who needs to prove a point, crap you employe a proven coach that is all

Justice Kafusha on Thu, 20th Nov 2008 10:48 AM 



Playing people who not defenders in defence, well I won’t be surprised if in the next game CHAN game he plays Sunzu jr. as a centerback and Tana as a winger. The whole thing is just crazy. The guy is getting a lot of money and when he gets such a huge chunk of Dollars as he is getting it should be very clear in his mind that we need results. I think we have to change the way we employe coaches, these guys have to first of all undergo a probational period just like in normal employment and give them/or not give them a contract when the 3 months have elapesed. That we would avoid these contracts that are binding whereby you have to pay the coach even after you have fired him

Vincent Numbwa on Thu, 20th Nov 2008 10:52 AM 



Ba Jaj mwachita over! we are all not happy with the results but what is even more dangerous is to lack self believe that we can move on and get better results.

Like Billy ,Sibs and many others have said we still have room for improvements. The fact that we lost to a good team does not mean that we are doomed. Lets also avoid the blaming players specifically defenders coz our strickers did not perform any better by not scoring.

Justice Kafusha on Thu, 20th Nov 2008 3:09 PM 



Ba Wille if it is like that then we shall end up as number 200 on the FIFA rankings friendly or not we have to loose with respect, this we can only do trough fighting hard. Luxemborg fought hard last night and drew with Belgium, Denmark were beaten in their own backyard by Wales who were playing as a unit without stars like Rayn Giggs.

Look bane our team has no star players therefore they will only acheive something if they start to play as a team and not to expect to rely on individual brilliance to win games. We do not have such kind of players at the moment

Alexander Liwana,RSA on Thu, 20th Nov 2008 4:02 PM 



I strongly feel that Zambia was playing better soccer under the stewardship of Patrick Phiri.Renard will be one of the worst coaches to have been employed by FAZ.I always say now and again that the squad which played against South Africa in Port Elizabeth in the 2008 Afcon qualifiers was supposed to kept until now and right now we could have been beating any side in Africa.Our problem in Zambia is that we are still experimenting players and as a result we have failed to build a formidable side.

Marty USA on Fri, 21st Nov 2008 4:27 AM 



Ba Wille has the facts. We get too worked up over loses. This was an experimental game. I would be more concerned with the teams potential complecency if they had won. This was a good heads up for the guys. This is what you do folks, don’t throw the baby out with the bath water. Also the EU players are in the middle of their season. Getting hurt in a friendly would be considered reckless by their clubs. Actually this will give Egypt and Algeria a false security. Did I Hear BLIND SIDE?

Izukanji on Fri, 21st Nov 2008 7:55 AM 



Please Zambian lets be serious for once.This so called Renard is not coach but rather a physical trainer.I wonder why we can not face the reality and get rid of this Physical Trainer.

Ba Ole on Fri, 21st Nov 2008 1:58 PM 



A loss was expected by me but not without us scoring something. Where are our strikers?

joseph chimpampwe on Sat, 22nd Nov 2008 10:55 AM 



Taj my man i like brave men like you. Blind patriotism has no solution. Even the dinosaurs (Sinkala, Mose, Edwin Phiri etc) that have not had any major impact before that we keep crying for aint a solution. Kafusha has also done justice to this fora, though i reserve my comments on his FAZ and HR assessment!!!! I have decided that instead of being an armchair critic of FAZ, i start forwarding solutions to them-just sent one that is under review by a pal of mine that is close to them.

danny on Mon, 24th Nov 2008 8:21 PM 



i concur with ba willie. taking into account the criticism we have room for improvement. there where flashes of that football which is uniquely zambian in that game. more high profile matches should be organised. in this respect kudos to FAZ. chipolopolo we will always rally behind u against all odds. we believe in u lads. all the besst