June 6, 2009
Zambia Coach Herve ‘The Super Fox’ Renard has said in a post match press conference at Konkola after a hard fought 1-0 win over a well organised Rwandese side that he was not surprised with the resolute defending of the Amavubi that had his boys sweating for the victory that put them on top of their World Cup/Africa Cup 2010 qualifying group ahead of Egypt and Algeria who clash in Bild tomorrow evening.
A Rainford Kalaba not so immaculate late headed goal broke the hearts of the Amavubi when they looked to have famously held out for a draw.
But the French born coach maintained that the Wasps were very well organised in the match they played against Algeria and that their showing this afternoon came as no surprise to him.
” I was sure that they could play like that after i watched (on video) the way they played against Algeria.”
Renard said the Amavubi had set out to frustrate Zambia by packing their midfield with five players.
And Renard has said that Collins Mbesuma’s performance had been affected pschologically by his penalty miss hence the decision to replace him with James Chamanga on 73 minutes.
”Mbesuma was affected psychologiaclly by the penalty miss. Fans would have not been happy if i had not played him. But he missed a penalty. In training he was very good,” said the 40 year coach.
Renard further said that Mbesuma had accepted the decision to replace him: ”He was fantastic, he has fantastic behaviour, he understood the decision.”
Mbesuma himself a first half substitute for an ineffective Noah Chivuta on 36 minutes leisurely missed a penalty. Rwandese keeper Jean Claude Ndoli dived to his left to stop the tame Mbesuma low penalty. The under fire striker recently released by his side Mamelodi Sundowns could not capitalise on the rebound which was parried in his way from the penalty miss and shot straight into the body of the keeper.
The penalty was won by the impressive Armenia based starlet Emmanuel Mbola who was brought down in the box after a marauding run on 38 minutes. Rwandese defender Alua Gaseruka earned himself a yellow card for the foul. Mbesuma had been on the pitch for only two mintes before his botched penalty.
Meanwhile, Renard has ruled out any more call ups before the Algeria June 20 clash saying: ”Remember, I had to drop six players before this game, so there will be no need to call any more.”
The players that had been dropped for the Amvubi clash were Davy Kaumbwa, Emmanuel Mayuka, Stophira Sunzu, Jonas Sakuwaha, Davies Nkausu and Mishek Lungu.
The team breaks camp and regroup on Monday evening with the others that had been left out of the Wasps clash.
Chipolopolo captain Chris Katongo echoed his coach’s sentiments that they expected a tough game against the Amavubi but that what was important was that they had won the match.
”We knew it was gonna be a difficult game. But we knew that the goal was gonna come and it came. We are happy’,’ explained the Bundesliga relegated side Arminia Bielefeld player.
Katongo who had a seemingly clear headed effort ruled out by Senegalese referee Ahmed Tidjane on 27 minutes, further said that the team had hoped to end the trend of winnning narrowly at home but had no illusions of an easy match against the Amavubi.
” We want to stop this thing of winning just 1-0. But we knew it was gonna be tough just like Swaziland and Togo.”
On the upcoming game against the Desert Foxes, Katongo said it would be a different proposition and the players would change their mentality.
Zambia looked headed for a draw at a packed Konkola in front of the watching Republican President Rupiah Banda clad in a Mbesuma number 9 green Zambia replica jersey before Rainford Kalaba nondescript goal rescued the game from the fire with only twelve minutes left on the clock.
Kalaba benefited from a crsip cross from the left by man-of-the match Emmanuel Mbola.
124 Comments on "HR: I knew Rwanda would be tough"
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DaMwiinger on Sat, 6th Jun 2009 7:12 PM
Good analysis by the coach. Don’t know about not changing the team but Mbesuma would be a candidate for the chop for me. What makes great players what they are is dealing well with such situations like he found himself in instead of being the lazy bum that he became
Matafwali on Sat, 6th Jun 2009 7:12 PM
I don’t understand HR’s reasoning about Mbesuma. One the one hand he’s saying his playing was affected by the missed penalty, on the other he saying the fans would have been mad if he’d not played him. What is the message he’s trying to convey on this issue. The first part implies he played Mbesuma because he earned the callup from his performances in practice, on the other he’s saying he played him not to disappoint the fans.
As much as I like Mbesuma, I would like to think HR is picking the team on merit, not on what the fans or someone in FAZ thinks. Get it together HR, the road will only get tougher. Play your best players. We are behind you guys.
Gesh on Sat, 6th Jun 2009 7:17 PM
We hv the 3 points,its a shaky start at hom but victory wil tek any dae! I honestly dint thnk Mbesuma ws that bad but pipo miss penalties..its the name of the game,infact no1 was confident enuf 2 step up & take da spot kick! Even bena Becks,Lamps hv misd 4 the England squad b4!! Algeria wil be a tougher test esp with height & set plays,we win dat 1 den we have 1 foot in2 SA…We love HR!!
Th 1 on Sat, 6th Jun 2009 7:19 PM
Emmanuel mbola z th future.I have always been a big fan of kalaba since his debut in th cosafa. I thnk mbesuma needs to lose massive weight.The talent is hiding under th fat.Anather player to watch in future is kennedy mudenda
DaMwiinger on Sat, 6th Jun 2009 7:25 PM
It’s not just the penalty miss, his work rate was pathetic. He couldn’t hold the ball and kept giving it away. If he is as good as we want to believe he is, he should have come out of the shell of missing the penalty
SHOOTTER on Sat, 6th Jun 2009 7:36 PM
Today’s game as shown just how important, are friendly games to the build up of the big game like Rwanda’s.
Because, if Mbesuma and Chivuta were test in the competitive friends and played the way they played today. I don’t think if they would have featured in todays game, we wouldn’t even have wasted two(2) subs and a goal from the penalty spot.
If zambia want three point from the Algeria game, then they must organise a friend against libya or tunisia just to experiment the players that are going to replace, chivuta , mbesuma and singuluma.
SHOOTTER on Sat, 6th Jun 2009 7:43 PM
Today’s game as shown just how important, are friendly games to the build up of the big game like Rwanda’s.
Because, if Mbesuma and Chivuta were test in the competitive friendly’s and played the way they played today. I don’t think if they would have featured in todays game, we wouldn’t even have wasted two(2) subs and a goal from the penalty spot.
If zambia want three point from the Algeria game, then they must organise a friendly against libya or tunisia just to experiment the players that are going to replace, chivuta , mbesuma and singuluma.
Sibs on Sat, 6th Jun 2009 7:44 PM
Guys we can’t blame one player just for having a penalty saved like Gesh says we seen great players miss penalties. The keeper saved it. Lets look at the positives from the game. We got 3 points that was our main goal. This has brought enormous pressure on The Egyptians and Algerians like someone said on the earlier post.
Some Algerian & Egyptian fans were wishing for a draw on the Fifa blog.
josef,RSA on Sat, 6th Jun 2009 7:53 PM
@Sibs
remember that in football, every chance missed can count against you at some point..mbesuma should have done better going by the standard that he is on paper!
DaMwiinger on Sat, 6th Jun 2009 7:56 PM
Sibs don’t get me wrong, I am not blaming Mbesuma and I am happy that we got the three points-that was the important thing. My point is that I don’t think Mbesuma deserves a place in the team. Anyone can miss a penalty but not anyone can miss one and gather themsleves and still be positive in the game-that’s the difference between great players and mediocre ones. For me, Colins didn’t show any signs of greatness at all. Missing the penalty should have been motivation to do more for the team but he didn’t any of that. We need to bear in mind that there are alot of other players who deserve a chance-our squad is that good
josef,RSA on Sat, 6th Jun 2009 7:57 PM
@SHOOTTER
its not just lack of friendly games but chivuta and mbesuma lack game time at club level,,and the can also be a huge negative
josef,RSA on Sat, 6th Jun 2009 8:02 PM
@DaMwiinger
i don’t know what medication be administered on him, this game was supposed be an advert for him…
Am also happy about the 3 points, but keep in mind that missed chance can count against us at some point
KK11 on Sat, 6th Jun 2009 8:06 PM
Well well well, so all the talk of 4-0,3-0 or cricket line scores did not come to fruition.Gentlemen I know the urge to relive the good old days is potent but I hope this game has reminded everyone that African football ahs changed and there is no small team anymore. A lot of you failed to look back to our most recent history and take the lesson. The way a lot of zambians on this blog were talking and treating the Rwandese as an afterthought was amazing. A lot of you sounded like the Egyptians did before they played us. What did we do to them? We made them eat humble pie, just like the Rwandese almost did to us. You have to respect your opponents, afterall if you made it to this stage you are a good team.I thinks Chamz and a few others were grounded when it came to predicting this game and I respect them for their foresight.
5-0,3-0 or 1-0 you get 3 points.yeah winning by a large margin is great because of the whole point differential thing, but that’s a bonus we need the W most of all.Zambia had a off day, I think they were a little too hyped but that’s fine. The mark of a good team is to get the win even when you are having an off day.Yes Collins missed a penalty, but that does not mean we need to condem him every one misses(remember Adebayor against Cameroon?). That said I think Jacob should have started but I think the fact that he joined camp late he had to come off the bench and he showed his worthiness.I had no doubt as the game progressed that we would score, afterall this has been the norm since Renard has taken over We finally Have the heart to win or draw tough games when all seems lost. The best players today in my oppinion were Mbola(the kid is a gem) and Mulenga(the man is an asset even if he does not score).
So Zedians enjoy the win, because the dream continues and come the Algeria game we will peform better. Chipolopolo till my days are up!!!
Moses passion on Sat, 6th Jun 2009 8:30 PM
Zambia did not play a better game but managed three points which is good.but next time when at home camp in chililabombwe.
Steven on Sat, 6th Jun 2009 8:42 PM
Hard fought win indeed guys, we’ll treat this like it was a friendly and continue the preparations for Algeria. Mbesuma missed his chance to at least remain in the discussion to be in the attack for Zambia. Now he has to go to the back of the line behind Mayuk and Chamanga. The partnership has to be Freedom and Jacob. By the way ba FAZ please take care of Mbola, that boy will do us proud some day very soon.
john on Sat, 6th Jun 2009 8:52 PM
i also believe that the quality of the pitches affect zambia’s perfomances at home. we have a quality side i think our pitches are preventing them from winning by bigger margins at home. i’ve noticed that away from home the boys play sublime football.
Zedian Fan on Sat, 6th Jun 2009 9:02 PM
You are the only naive to think that the Zambians are very ungrateful. If we lost this game today they would have been calling for Renards head for not playinf Mbesuma. Renard just proved himself to the fans that he knows what he is doing@Matafwali
Zedian Fan on Sat, 6th Jun 2009 9:08 PM
I Agree, the guys play on world class pitches only to come and play on sub standard pitches, and we expect them to win
Kuku on Sat, 6th Jun 2009 9:18 PM
It takes carriage to predict a 3-0 score doesnt it, well it wz a good starting point for the negotiation. I go for 3-1 against Algeria. Respect at stake?
john on Sat, 6th Jun 2009 9:58 PM
i’m excited at tomorrow’s clash. Algeria-Egpyt what a game. i can see the two sides murdering each other. the pressure is on. i think we need to seal our qualification as soon as possible and join the big boys. Japan, Australia and South Korea have just booked thier places at the world cup…
Anonymous on Sat, 6th Jun 2009 10:16 PM
Mbesuma haz talent.Even our president knoz,replica jersey.Lets stop criticizin and look forwad.Algeria will be beaten without problems.When zambia is startin,they ar shaky and reasons why they nid friendly games with tough teams.
Marty USA on Sat, 6th Jun 2009 10:58 PM
Even Ronaldo, Christiano, Rooney, Messi, Romario, Kalusha, Abedi, Kaka, Giggs, all have botched penalties and missed all obvious open goal chances. Theres nothing new about this. We won, 3 point is 3 points. Good Job HR and Team. USA lost to Costa Rica digest that one.
FIFA on Sat, 6th Jun 2009 11:15 PM
@Justice Kafusha
Justice there is no other option other than that
FIFA on Sat, 6th Jun 2009 11:17 PM
Mbesuma is cool,just that HR didnt have a game plan
monk police on Sat, 6th Jun 2009 11:34 PM
Mbola is the man, creating the penalty and eventually making the cross that resulted into the goal. Hope to see him play in the UEFA soon
monk police on Sun, 7th Jun 2009 1:46 AM
Whats the rating for players?
Gesh on Sun, 7th Jun 2009 2:17 AM
We need to double our efforts for the next game & thank goodness we hav a coach who knows xactly that!!!!
My *** on Sun, 7th Jun 2009 2:29 AM
Viva mighty Zambia…even the souls of our departed ’93 brothers will be singing songs of praise after this win! Bravo zed bullets
Tk on Sun, 7th Jun 2009 3:17 AM
Mbesuma was ‘fat’ at keza chiefs. Not about the fat. He had enuf time 2 redeem his mistake…Congrats guys…Wez cliford mulenga?
Dr_five on Sun, 7th Jun 2009 7:00 AM
Our pitch had a great impact on de game, wonder y Zambia plays very well when they re away? Good pitches, congrats guys, kalaba n mbola fantastic!!!
Zozi on Sun, 7th Jun 2009 7:30 AM
I like Renard. But I dont like his position on Mbesuma. You dont play a man just bcoz fans want him to play. The question is: does Mbesuma deserve to be in the team? Why waste 2 substitution chances on one guy plus a missed penalty? i know the guy can do better, but i dont believe he’s pushing himself anymore…..
kapunda on Sun, 7th Jun 2009 8:24 AM
I feel we need Isaac Chansa for our little performing midfield. The coach could have considered calling Isaac for the Algeria game. Take note that Gabon buchered Togo 3-0 and Tunisia – Mozambique 2-0 Malawi-Bokinafaso 0-1 . It was good for Zed 3 points whether undescribed scoring or what.
Nyama soya on Sun, 7th Jun 2009 8:26 AM
KALABA KALABA Kalaba kalaba kalaba kalaba
Georgia Russia on Sun, 7th Jun 2009 8:52 AM
@Dr_five
for sure zambia plays very well away because of good pitches.zambia has not impressed at home in a long time.
Ba Chocho Ndola on Sun, 7th Jun 2009 9:16 AM
I have had a chance to watch the entire just ended PSL in south africa and more specifically all the m. sundowns games.am telling you mbesuma does not fit into modern football full of fighting and runing.his ball instict is dropped to minimum.at sundowns his fellow players could not even pass the ball to him bcos of being out of position most of the times.he cant beat his markers and run wit the ball.HR STOP EMBARRASSING THAT GENTLEMAN.Fwayo Tembo,mayuka,given s are the future
kapunda on Sun, 7th Jun 2009 9:44 AM
The whole game was kicking the ball with almost no intentions on the both sides of the teams though Rwanda had better passing targets than Zed. Zed’s midfield was sleepy and thanx to Mbola who was frequently overlapping and Feligo.Zed’s striking force was bland. Algerian game we need Jacob Mulenga,Fwayo or Mayuka to start and then the rest could be that way minding midfield that Isaac Chansa Could be of great importance. On Mbesuma, the coach my gauge him again during may be international friendlies or practices. One day of mistake may not be good to judge a player.
SONG on Sun, 7th Jun 2009 10:04 AM
It is amazing how people easily write off opposing teams to the extent of predicting crazy score lines. I agree with the guys who are saying that the playing surface in chililabombwe is negatively affecting our play. Remember that most of our opponents are of a bigger stature than us and as such the only way for us is to put the ball on the ground. What is most annoying is that from the begining of this year we have known that we shall use konkola stadium for our home matches and yet we have done nothing about that bumpy playing turf.
Gesh on Sun, 7th Jun 2009 10:48 AM
@kapunda
Do you guys just mek comments from the Blue?????????
Isaac is injured…HE WAS CALLED!!!!! Check facts before you comment guys!!!!
monk police on Sun, 7th Jun 2009 11:25 AM
The best thing that would happen tonight, is if Algeria can win against Egypt. Then win Algeria next weekend. Anyway whatever happens today we should win our on own games.
Armed Gunman on Sun, 7th Jun 2009 12:02 PM
As long as it’s three points, it’s ok. Now HR with all due respect to your acumen as our coach so far, you seriously mean you played Mbesuma to satisfy the fans. I thought those who made the team were picked on merit. Check back on the Zambia/Egypt game and see what picking players on merit can do. It seems Mbola boy is the one – prevent greedy chaps from invading his life. He requires early wise guidance.
kapunda on Sun, 7th Jun 2009 12:21 PM
@ Gesh
May be i did not clarify things, i meant that in the event that Isaac has recovered from his injury and he prooves his fitness the coach may try him in the midfield where in the last game we seemed sleepy. Otherwise, may be as fans we expected too much from our boys. As at now 3 points is important to us.The midfield and the striking force shud be worked on in the next game with Algeria.
Dinamo on Sun, 7th Jun 2009 2:37 PM
My player ratings : MWEENE 9/10-The PSL goalie of the.season had an off day. MUSONDA 7/10-The ex Nkana fullback seem to be the only senior player who is enjoying competition with the new kids on the block.He had a good game. MBOLA 9/10-The Almenia based overaping full back was no doubt the best player on the pitch.He created the penalty and was the archtect of the searching cross which Kalaba converted.This boy will go places if he remains focused.D BANDA 8/10-The GBFC central defender’s calmness and maturity is what any coach can demand from a player in that role.NYAMBE 8/10 -His work rate in that role reminded me of Estone Mulenga.No wonder we believed the rumour that the Kasama born and bred was Estone’s son. KASONDE 7/10-’Mr Reliable’ had a busy day in the engine room where the Rwandese had packed about 5 players. KALABA 7/10-The former Zambian footballer of the year struggled to come in the game but he defeated the mood that could have spoiled his day and did his usual runs before converting a Mbola special into the only goal of the day. CHIVUTA 3/10-The ex Roan and Warriors midfielder was completely off form. SINGULUMA 5/10-’Freedom’ for no reasons failed to utilise his chance to command a place in the team.He looked out of place and only started to come to the party in the second half. .C KATONGO 6/10-The Chipolopolo captain had a clear goal disallowed but overall he was an average player on the field.F KATONGO 6/10-The France based was tightly marked and he couldn’t play his game though he created the disallowed goal and had his best short on goal served. MBESUMA 2/10-He had his worst game in his career.After missing a penalty he became extra laggage in the field until he was substituted.His perfomance has brought more questions than answers.J MULENGA 7/10-This guy has the strength of a deadly striker.He resurected our attack when he came on.CHAMANGA 5/10-The China based had little time to show his worth
Dinamo on Sun, 7th Jun 2009 3:11 PM
We have to fix our mid before we play Algeria.We have to pray that Chansa is declared fit so that we try him with Mr Reliable in the engine room.William Njobvu is another option if Chansa remains injured.We also have to seriously consider assesing Sinkala if he can still contribute to the team.Yes I said SINKALA and I know this is one topic we always want tn avoid but believe me we need depth in the team for these qualifiers.What happens if Chansa’s injury wont heal now? or if Kasonde,Kalaba or Felix are red carded??…back to experiments not so??.Thats why Iam insisting that we need to look at SINKALA.In the wings we have enough options in Fwayo,Sakuhawa etc but we don’t seem to have enough options mu engine room and thats a serious concern b’coz football in won is midfield
Dinamo on Sun, 7th Jun 2009 3:32 PM
My new lineup after the Rwanda game:1.Mweene 2.J Musonda 3.Mbola 4.Hichani 5.Nyambe 6.Kasonde 7.Kalaba 8.Chansa/Njobvu 9.Jacob 10.Katongo 11.Felix. Dennis Banda is calm and mature but any defence require a player with height advantage and I feel Hichani’s height is suitable in that role.Musonda maintans b’coz we require a natural fullback who can attack and defend.If Chansa won’t recover then Njobvu should be tried as a play maker with Kalaba and Felix supporting him and am sure the lad can take up the challenge.Jacob remains our main threat thanks to his strength and stature.Fwayo,Singuluma and Sakuhawa can come in has impact players
Matafwali on Sun, 7th Jun 2009 4:56 PM
Zedian Fan, I don’t understand what you are trying to say except to conclude that you are calling me naive. Please read through the article above, especially paragraph 7 and then read my post. I am going based on what Renard was quoted as having said. I understood him to imply that if he had not played Mbesuma, the fans would have been mad, which I think is your point when you say had we lost fans would be calling for his head had he not played Mbesuma and we lost. There in lies the folly for me. A lot of contributors have been praising Renard for not playing names which does not seem to be the case going by the statement above about Mbesuma. By your own reasoning, if Renard proved his point by playing an uneffective Mbesuma, why doesn’t he do the same for players like Sinkala so he can prove to us that he doesn’t pick them because they are ineffective? You seem to be suggesting that he would risk Zambia’s chances just to prove he knows what he is doing.
Gametime12 on Sun, 7th Jun 2009 6:02 PM
Typical Zambian fans never appreciate any work put in. How could you blame a player when you won the game? Look Mbesuma might have missed a penalty but he played better than Kat man and Singuluma. Those guys were no where to be seen but nobody is saying anything about their performance. DaMwiinger Nobody wanted to step up and take the penalty, Mbesuma was brave enough to take it. Some people are blaming HR for letting Mbesuma take the penalty, are you serious? A penalty kick is a captians responsibility. He also chooses who takes it. I find this to be true, most left footed guys are bad penalty takers Remember Kalu. Now I know why zambia uses Chilies for home games, trust me Algeria and Egypt wont have a good game in chilies.
Kennedy Phiri on Sun, 7th Jun 2009 9:50 PM
what happened to a guy called compos