Renard on Morocco friendly, Sinkala & his new gem
- Wednesday, November 26, 2008, 10:30
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Chipolopolo Boys trainer Herve Renard believes if African football Associations can improve on the organization of the game in their respective countries then it won’t take long to see an African country lifting the World Cup.
Though he refused to comment of the ‘behind the scenes’ of the Zambia’s international friendly match against Morocco, the 40 year old straight talking Frenchman gave a diplomatic response to reports that the national team spent 15 hours at an Airport in Amsterdam, Holland without proper care and did not train as they spent most of the three days connecting to Casablanca.
“Africa has a lot of talent but authorities have to work on organization. If they can do that then an African country will soon win the World Cup soon.
“When I was with the Black Stars (Ghana), we beat Morocco 2-0 in France in a friendly match but three months later we lost 5-0 to Saudi Arabia with the likes of Essien, Muntari in midfield. The reason was simple we didn’t have time to prepare because of poor organization, “he said.
“It was a warning to everyone especially myself,” he added
Mistake using Chivuta as a left back
When pressed further by the Zamfoot crew on why he played Noah Chivuta, a midfielder by trade as a left back against a pace opposition like Morocco, Renard said he wanted to maintain the same back four that played against Togo in September.
“You (Zamfoot crew reporter) were very sure that Chivuta can’t play as a left back because you know him but I wasn’t sure. I wanted to see how he can play in away match because against Togo he impressed me, but now I know what his best position is,”
Player to watch-Emmanuel Mbola
One player who is set to dislodge Noah Chivuta at the left back berth is under-17 international left-foot back Emmanuel Mbola. The Mining Rangers full-back has impressed the Frenchman such that he had to ‘fight’ for him with the under-20 coach Oswald Mutapa Jr to have him in the CHAN squad.
While Kennedy Lungu (L) from LCC has been dropped, Emmanuel Mbola is part of Renard’s plans and has been poised to earn his second international cap this weekend. Mbola is a the second player from a lower rank side to earn a full international debut after featuring in a friendly match against DR Congo recently. Last year then coach Patrick Phiri handed Nkana’s wing wizzard Allan Mukuka a full cap against Togo in a friendly match. Mukuka was by then playing for Mufulira Wanderers.
“I am very convinced and hundred percent sure that Emmanuel Mbola is the future of Zambian football. I believe he has the qualities to play against top opposition like Morocco, Egypt,” said Renard about his new gem. Mbola has impressed almost everyone both the National team players and under-20 players whom he trained with last week.
Verdict on Emmanuel Mbola
From what the Zamfoot crew have noticed, Mbola can be one of the the revelations of the year. Coached by former international centre-back Elijah Litana at lower rank side Minning Rangers, he is an aggresive and physical defender. His all round game play has led to his senior national team colleagues to dub him ‘Evra’ after Manchester United player Patrice Evra while at under-20 level they were calling him ‘Rorberto Carlos’.
Since 1993 Zambia hasn’t had a natural left-footed patrolling the left flank and in Mbola there’s hope if he stays grounded. Currently Mbola is vying for the left-back slot with Zanaco and former Under-20 defender Luka Tembo who is also a left footed.
Renard confirms Sinkala recall
On the rumour that he is courting the services of Germany based midfielder Andrew Sinkala, Renard confirmed that he has decided to recall Sinkala because of his valuable experience.
“Yes that’s true, he (Sinkala) was on my list for the Morocco. After Isaac Chansa asked for permission, I asked for Sinkala because he is a very experienced player. He is still in my plans.
Renard declined to elaborate more on why he didn’t show up and feauture against Morocco but expressed hope that Sinkala will be available for future assignments.
Sunzu out of Angola clash?
Meanwhile striker Felix Sunzu Jr is set to miss out on this weekend’s Chan qualifier against Angola after a Tunisian Super league club AS Marsa claimed that he was still their player.
League leading top scorer Aubrey Zulu is set to replace Sunzu in the CHAN Squad. According to his clubmate Kebby Hachipuka, Zulu is a goal poacher.
Sunzu featured for the club earlier this year but in July the lanky forward returned to his hometown club Konkola Blades and started featuring for them.
“Sunzu is still sorting out some problems so I have decided to call Nicholas Zulu as his replacement. Given Singuluma and Aubrey Zulu are also training with us.
The Frenchman was speaking to the Zamfoot crew on Tuesday morning training session at Barclays Sports Complex.
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Good that Sinkala is being called back. But what’s with this secracy surrounding the Morocco game i.e. 15 hours at the airport and Sinkala not being in the game?
By the way, does anyone know what’s happening on the NSCZ’s investigation into the transfer issues?
Finally Sinkala is back. Thanks Zamfoot and fellow soccer fans for the pressure we mounted through Zamfoot. Atleast our prayers have been answered.
One thing I have realised is that this coach seems to be a good talent scout and I believe in future, he will make a good coach (as he is still learning). There is always a new name popping up in Z football every month recently. This emanuel Mbola boy.
What is interesting also is the development of football in places like southern province with the promotion of two teams from the province to play in the ZPL. Atleast the the net will be wider from which national team players can be selected. But we need to here also from western, north western, luapula, eastern and northern province. Rather than just Midland and C/belt.
Now I know why we were clobbered 3-0 by Morocco. I know how it feels after travelling long distances for a long time. You feel like your legs are numb. Maybe the guys never even trained. I hope this is not just an excuse from the coach.
This is what adebajor(sp)was complaining about ,african football associations we lack planning ,even if we operate on little resources if u plan right u wont be spending 15hours just sitting in the lobby at the airport, thats sad.
Glad to hear that the coach has recalled sinkala,and back to the zambia /morocco game ,after watching the game i saw that we wasted a lot of chances ,we played well in the second have morocco utilised the chances they had but as failled ,u can even tell that morocco fans on youtube said that zambia played well in the second half but failled to utilise there chances.lets regroup and get it all our best,zambia forever
Hey FAZ i just want to shout out to all yall for the morocco game but next tyme ,plan real good so that players dont spend 15hours at the airport ,i believe thats how we lost to iran because we spent most of the time flying.
Hmm, well il give them the benefit of doubt about the endless hours at the airport, i guess this means that he is commiting to doing better, i can live with thatas for sinkala, i was happy the 1st time i was informed and subsequently informed you so we wait and see, he better prove us right tho!!!LOL any matches today Zamfoot?
Guys i know this may be late or off topic but can someone tell me who number 12 was for Zed in the friendly with Morocco. Anyone????
Before playing Egypt, we must camp in North Africa at least for two weeks-local players.
I guess its sealed now, Sinkala is coming. I hope this time we will be able to nurture some of this upcoming talent unlike a situation were one impresses today and is a waste the next game.
Lets see what happens in the CHAN game.
I am begining to hate this calling of names that belong to other players as nicknames. What happens when Mbola by God ’s garce plays in the same team with Evra or Carlos.
I can’t see Aubrey’s face in the picture. The chap is really dark LOL
There is nothing wrong with being dark. Zambians like most Africans are naturally dark. We should be proud of it unlike deem it like a curse. Thats wrong.
wow,to be honest this does not spell good for Kalu and his jokies at football house,i have alot of respect for great and afterall his my only celebrity i have in zambia after Levy Mwanawasa, but i do not like wats goin on.
even after giving him a team he wanted in the executive committee it looks like faz is more disorganised,maybe thats why they brought Eric “VJ” Mwanza to sweet talk us.
i urge faz not to take us for granted.
now i must say that while the morrocco saga needs thorough investigations i think the Kalu led faz has given some hope by him swallowing his pride and calling Andrew Sinkala(oranges).
Its good Sinkala is finally back, so lets wait and see. My only warry is the system the coach is playing our players. Our players are naturally small, so can NOT be left in a lone striker format. We have always won through a good combination in mid and upfront. When did Jacob became a lone type of a striker, to me, he is a winger. We need two or three man attack IN WHICH mBESUMA WOULD have fit in, but am worried of his fitness and sportsmanship
Our players are not small, national team selectors must go for tall players like Litana, Wawa, Mbesuma, Samuel Chomba, Estone Mulenga. I think the trend of small has to do with U17, U20, U23 were small bodied people are picked. I am not saying short players should not play but I am saying they must not be the majority in the team.
Veep I am not sure on the Jacob as a winger story, I mean since when?? and again on Mbesuma ahhhhh!!!!!!!
But I agree with you on the three striker system with Chris just siitting behind the two most upfront strikers. Chris was a gem in this role at cosmos. He is just a natural in this spot though I dont see him play it anywhere else. Even the one goal he has got in germmany came from him running and collecting from the up front most striker.
We made it happen fellow bloggers Sinkala is in, I think w can give ourselves a pat on the back, this is a true sign that we the fans can make things happen. One question though guys, does the buck stop on Sinkala?? We need this guy to build a bigger pool and not limit the pool to local players and hold onto the same group of internationals. there is still work to be done with regards to casting that net wider.
Good Sinkala is in let no one have an exuse for not delivering on account of not having players.
On Mbesuma I have probably been a greatest fan of this dude but Iam now losing faith. I use to think this guy is just misunderstood where ever he has been but now I can`t help thinking he needs time put his career in order before we can consider him for national duty. We have been patient with him for some time now I believe even the vultures patience has a limit. Let us open doors and creat room for the future 2010 is so near we can not afford to entirly depend on legs that we be tired by the end of our journey.
Good that Sinkala is back. But this does not explain the reason why Renard has been sidelining him especially in friendly games where Renard has to identify as many players as possible. It looks like Renard only wants to identify talent in the Zambian league and not from a pool of other players playing abroad. We need more players to be tried. It’s not only Sinkala.
Well, like the rest of the bloggers, the Sinkala story is very good news. Is there something new on Mbesuma going on or is this about his fitness and missed practices?
Veep, having watched Jacob play, he’s never crossed me as a winger. Is he even that fast to those of you who have seen him play more?
Renard has deliberately been “upscaling” the national team by selecting tall players. That’s why he’s averse to naming Kalaba, the Katongo brothers and Clifford in the same squad. Not enough height.
Eston Mulenga, by the way, was not that tall. He was probably an inch or so taller than Tana. I remember the time I saw him play. He came on as a sub at center forward for Blades vs. Nkwazi in Nov. ‘87 in Lusaka. He stood out, of course, because of his complexion. less than three months later, I saw him in defence for Buffaloes in that four club pre-season tourney City used to organise. This was like Feb. ‘88. Eston had grown a few inches taller. Brilliant player.
Chamwe kaira, I have a question for you. How tall is Diego Maradona, he is just like Chris Katongo, and yet he danced around tall defenders like Terry Butcher of England. Football has nothing to do with height, it is all about being clever and not luck. There are many short players doing so fine be it in defence, midfield or frontline. Robert Carlos is another example, and so is Italien centerbeck Fabio Canavarro, Dickson Makwaza and Dick Chama (late) were not tall either but managed to defend, what of KK for Kaiser Kalambo, Milton Muke, Benard “Tools” Mutale and many more. Were they tall?
All this with height is crap. Skills and determination of a soccer player has nothing to do with height nor weight. Bena Lewis Shambolu bale lasa despite being light weights.
Playing a lone striker in zambian standards is a joke,i would personally go for a 4-3-3 formation,,if we were to use the usual players RENARD has been using i can go for;mweene,nkausu,musonda,HH,chintu,sinkala,hachipuka,chansa,felix,chris & jacob..i also want to advise king kalu to stop dreaming,how can he be eyeing an executive post @ caf when him & his team have failed to put the football house in order,.there is also need for our players to be consistence so that they help the coach to be consistent aswel.the national team should have good players who can deliver only regardles of height,colour or size..they should be fit & active aswell.
Good counter point ba Justice. But you still need some height especially when it comes to defending against set pieces. But ultimately, you are right, it is all about positioning and just having the skills and the know how. I think the smartest thing in any sport is to play to your strengths.
I just heared kalu speak,im proud to be zambian, im back mailo and i heear dinaoooomoooo beat devils 3=0 bad result we shud have helped our neighbours
Ba Spaks, tell us more about your experiences at Soccerex when you get back. It was great seeing you “pilgrimage” to Old Trafford in photoes and another friend of mine katuta was in Manchester last week doing what you did. But am more interested in what your experiences at Socerex in RSA was and Kalu said in his speech.
Yes Ba Spaks the 3-0 loss to Dinamo will send shivers down our spines but we should be good enough against Nkwazi though we shall be away.
BA justice Kafusha i disagree with u Diego Maradona is way too short you cant compare him with Cris He is no more than 2 inches taller than Chiluba! howerever, the height is not nesessariry a factor whats important is is the cleveness and skills, having watched felix katman at the last AFCON i say he was the best player on the pitch in all 3 matches and in my opinion he is the most valuable player zambia has at the moment.
desire you did not get my point. my point is that height does not play any role in sports generally if a person has skills and determination. Tyson was short but he could beat taller oponents. We can not use height as an excuse
You must read all I wrote, you can not have a team with 11 short players. Look at the West Africans, North Africans, how do you defend corners and free kicks, if you read what I wrote I said the majority of the team must not be short, Robert Carlos and Fabio Canavarro are short yes but most of the Italian and Brazian teams are tall. I don’t mean tall as in basketball players. People ask Zamfoot to give us a picture of the late team. We had Samuel (big) Bubble (big) Johnstone (short but with power), Kelvin (tall) Derby (big) than we had a few short people like chikwalakwala and Numba but the bulk of the team was tall and big.
Gents I say it again, the call for the coach to incrrease his pool size should not be limited to Sinkala and players from the ZPL. We are so used to using a small pool that in the end we even believe we have a very small pool of players. Good that Sinkala is in but we also want to see goal scoring nchimunya and company tried out as well.
The hieght story is a non starter so lets drop it. We do need some hheight but that does not count for anything if the system, skill and tactics are wrong.
Spaks, cant ait to hear from you my man.
Its interesting to hear that HR now has plans to utilise the experience of Sinkala in the team.I also agree with his views on the organisation of the African game.We have the talent but our football administrators neglect other facets of management in their operations. & this were we get it wrong .eg the matter at hand were FAZ secured a friendly but failed to provide logistical support to make the team ready for the game cleary shows that FAZ are lacking things like organisation,planing etc
VEEP,I think our best formation is 4-4-2.With the coming of Sinkala,Iwould like to see a midfield comprising Sinkala,Gattuso,Feligo & Kalaba with Chris & in form Jacob upfront.On Mbesuma,I know we like this guy but if he can’t improve it can be wrong for us to keep our minds in his past glory days.Mbesuma should be made to fight for the national team call up & this is why HR should who appears to be good in scouting talent should also look at Chanda Mwaba,Boyd Mwila,Nchimunya & that Zambian at TP Mazembe who is tipped to join a top French clubin January.Good to hear that Elijah Litana has produced Mbola who the Kitwe fans have predicted to be the next ‘SOKO ZAMBIA’.CHAMWE,Estone Mulenga was not a tall player.He had the height like that of John Terry
Nice to have an all round midfield this time(Sinkala & Chansa).Also,lets groom Zulu to be a full goalpoacher,the midfielders will do their job to place the ball onto his feet,hoping he will be deadly.When we mix experience with new talent,Chipolopolo will be untouchable.On the Mayuka saga,let us just move on,its a good thing that he moved to a top club where he will learn & we might soon see him in a Chelsea or Arsenal shirt which is good.Advice to Local club administrators is that,they should groom more Players of quality instead of holding a player,thats unprogressive.Can someone tell us how Rodger Kola is doing in Sweeden?,And how our two Under-20 players (Chisamba & Sinkala) performed in Russia?
Congrats guys, your wish on Sinkala has been granted though a majority may sometimes mean all the fools are on the same side(ha ha ha…..just soccer not insults ok)! Will be interesting seeing him, Felligo,Kalaba, Gatusso (all short players) against Ahmed Hassan, Mohammed Zidan, Aboutrika, Zaki, Barakat (all strong, skilful, tall and adept players) etc.
Ba Spaks i wasn’t going to see you miss the Soccerex SA, sorry i couldn’t go with you as planned due to work pressure. Our Sports Consultancy is headed for big things so that we can go MAD (Make A Difference) and run away from just being serial critics.
Ba Ole our Kalampa is headed for a drop no doubt about it. Let’s see how we can reorganise in Division 1.
Nkana has a minimal chance of survival. If we bit Green Eagles and Young Arrows or with Arrows and hope for the worst for Nchanga, Chambishi, Konkola, Roan and even L Dynamos, we can survive. I guess Zambia/Chipopolo survives with such kind of mathethmatics. All the best Nkana!!!
Good suggestion Ba Bola Panshi.
Kalu pliz pay the coaches and why are you interested in improving your CV?When Zambia was playing that game,you were busy doing your personnal business in holland……….we really need sinkala and the other players that can add value to the current team……the coach is really trying to make a good team…the guy is very friendly and always wanting to learn and listen to what other people are saying!!good luck zambia.
Surely, someone is still talking about Mwape Miti, ZED Saileti today. Some people are still in dreams.
Kalu and his administrtion, to be blunt have no vision, and i dont see how Zambian football is going to come out of the current slump under Kalu admin. We need visionaries at FAZ, and the sooner the Kalu adminsitartion is out the better.