FAZ shun Kenya friendly
- Wednesday, June 10, 2009, 8:01
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The Football Association of Zambia has ruled out playing any friendly match before
the Algeria June 20 World Cup qualifier at Konkola. This is despite receiving an approach from Kenya’s Harambee Stars for a tune up match before the Desert Foxes match. FAZ General Secretary George Kasengele has disclosed.
Zambian fans had cited lack of proper friendlies as hampering the progress of the team in crucial matches but Kasengele said the Chipolopolo Boys would not play any friendly match before the top of the bill group C clash.
‘We were approached by Kenya to play them but looking at time, we think it is not possible. They will just go and train in South Africa.” Kasengele is quoted as saying in The Post.
Kenya have instead clinched a friendly match against Ghana to be played on June 16 at the Kasarani International stadium in Nairobi. Kenya host Mozambique while Ghana are due to play in the Sudan in the June 20 qualifiers.
Meanwhile abdominal pains prevented troubled Chipolopolo Boys striker Collins Mbesuma joining his colleagues at their first training session at Sunset Stadium in Lusaka. The burly striker who joined camp at Southern Sun Hotel on Monday alongside his colleagues remained at the hotel while the rest of the squad was taken through their paces.
Coach Herve Renard had asked the press to confirm with the team doctor the exact nature of Mbesuma’s illness when quizzed on the player’s consipicous absence from the training session. Renard said Mbesuma was unwell but did not know what the problem was. The Frenchman dispelled any notions that the forward who came off the bench to miss a penalty against Rwanda before being substituted had been dropped.
Team doctor Joseph Kabungo confirmed Mbesuma missed training due to a minor abdominal problem and was part of Renard’s squad pushing for places against Algeria.
Meanwhile, Renard said his charges were ready to take on Algeria. He reiterated that Zambia were in a good position and needed to win its home games to get the advantage in the group.
”We have to make sure we win our two home games and get six points so that we are in good position in the middle way of the qualifiers,” said the 40 year old trainer.
And The Post have reported that Konkola Blades officials have no problems playing their home FAZ Premier League matches at nearby Nchanga Stadium in Chingola to facilitate the rehabilitation or maintenance of the pathetic Konkola pitch.
FAZ have written to Konkola Blades not to use Konkola as demanded by FIFA before the Algeria match.
Club Secretary Richard Musukwa reportedly said:
”Blades will not ideally be affected by this arrangement because the next two game are actually away and in terms of training, we will get to our off season pitch at the rugby grounds and in case of any home game we will gladly paly it at Nchanga Stadium, the venue for our sister club (Nchanga Rangers).”
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Its no secret that the players failed to cordinate due to lack of quality friendlies,its realy sad that even after that yoyo perfomance zambia can even afford to turn down a well intented gesture,dull people have realy dominated football afairs in zambia.its realy disapointing.
I would like to know renard’s stance on this matter,how can faz honestly measure the teams strength if they just train without being tried,then tomorow we hear they played an academy somewhere,kenya would not have been the best of opposition but certainly would have given zambia a good training,am realy disapointed with faz.
i purely understd that we dont have the time for friendly match before the Algeria game, shou,ld our players get injuries in that friendly i dont see them recover fully before June 20 so my fellow fans lets understand this one, and hope they train well as they are in camp.
I dont know about this one. I think it might be short notice depending on the date the invitation was received, however a friendly should have been penciled in a long time ago between the two games. This should have been arranged prior to a by the way kind of arrangement. If we had planned this earlier, we could have played a friendly this weekend and that would have left more than enough time to be in top shape for Algeria. FAZ, we need more quality friendlies, Pirates youth teams dont count as quality…
Oh Please dear FAZ, lets have a friendly match before this high profile game so that we gauge our players’ coordination. Twapapata…!
Taj
Why is it that other international sports media have reported differently regarding the Chipolopolo performance against Rwanda. Notably ,they reported the team’s dominance over Rwanda which resulted in good number of scoring opportunities that were not utilized.
Why would you wanna risk your players with less than two weeks in between games? ‘Its a no brainer’. You get a player hurt there will be no time to recover. Then we are screwed.
I support FAZ, I think friendlies are not a good idea, maybe on a FIFA day after the Algeria game. Even we had arranged a friendly before the Algeria game, it was not going to a full team because pros like Mbola, Chris, Misheck, Mayuka, Jacob and others were not going to feature. Too many games is not good for a time.
Friendlies just before an important games are counterproductive. I salute FAZ on this one. Suppose u get serious injuries? Suppose Kenya beats you 3 nil, do u knw what that does to a teams’ morale and self belief? I think the Rwanda game was a good preparatory match on its on. The technical bench should have seen what changes need to be made and can try them during training.
Gd
Mbesuma, Mbesuma, Mbesuma again. Always its Mbesuma. No wonder HR referred the media to the team doctors I think he is tired. I hope tanwine sana the previous night. I am just speculating anyway, but its possible.
I dont agree, even Iraq who are in the Confed cup played a friendly just yesterday and yet start their campaign for confed this weekend. Spain are only arriving in SA today because they had a game to play before coming to africa. Friendlies are a vital part of the game. There is simply no other way to make the right combinations and thats why you end up with situation were substitutes are substituted. Even as we speak now I think the coach still has a bit of a head scratch as to which striking combination is the best. Some of these decisions kaya mwe! if you cant beat them join them. If you cant beat the best jon the best. he best of the world are busy frantically playing friendlies and yet here we are 90th in the world never been to a world cup thinking we know beter by going to play PSL reserve sides and think this is helping us.
Luapula Fish..Like which international sports media? Please assist with a website.
Gents I also thought we required a friendly game before Algeria but according to what ALEX NAMAZABA explained to me yesterday Ive come to realise that a friendly game isn’t that neccesary at this time.He (NAMAZABA) explained that the Rwanda game was a qualifier and a prep game at the same time.After that game HR is now expected to know which players in camp can fit in his game plan for the Algeria game considering that he is by this time expected to have seen Algeria’s games in the preliminary games and the recent matches between Rwanda and Egypt.The other point he raised was that a closed door training camp will be better than a friendly game b’coz the opponents are going to remain blank as to which tactics we intend to use against them.
Chitundu what you are saying is crap. To be fair to FAZ, the last FIFA day was just after the Egpty game in Cairo. So it was not possible for a friendly. The last FIFA day was also just before the Rwanda game. It will make sense to have friendlies after the Algeria game maybe with Tunisia or Morrocco, I hope the team will camp there. They just played Rwanda, you expect them to travel 8 hours to and from Nairobi in a different climate and come back home and play Algeria. There is a danger of knocks, injuries, fatigue etc. Rwanda played Malawi last week, Malawi won 2-0 but lost 1-0 to Burkina while Rwanda lost to Zambia. Someone said Iraq played New Zealand yes, they have a week before they play SA next week. Iraq did not play last week. My point is a team can not play three games in one week, and fly around that much. Given our situation, if we play a friendly, we are likely to use home based players only. That is why teams with a lot of players in Europe like Nigeria opt to play in Europe because it is easy for players to travel.
Algeria will come with usual Aran tactics: delaying the game, felling all the time, faking injuries. If a black team like Rwanda were that tired, it means Algeria will tire in the first half, that is why Saku and Fwayo must play to do all the running. Algeria will simply put men behind the ball and counter. Zambia must attack from first whistle.
Arab tactics
AMEN to this Steve. Point taken.
Billy and Steve, have Iraq and Spain played 3 games in three weeks? Our point is not friendly games but we are saying the team will be playing too much football. Suppose we played a friendly before the Rwanda game not all of our players were going to feature because some joined camp two before Rwanda game. A friendly after Algeria will make sense. On sub being taken out, nothing wrong with that. Mbesuma missed a spot kick and his morale went down. It is not the first time such a thing has happened. Besides, the coach know better than most of us who are just arm chair critics.
Justice, then we might as well send the U 23 for the game.
Mbesuma sure are you deciding to get completely finished or what ni sheki sheki inamuchita mumimba.Fifa concerns, what next, how far is the indepence station with its artificial turf?Its true the match is risky knowing Zambians and what could have happened with Dilamba if the unfairly officiated match between Zambia and Morrocco was played at Konkola.All the best chipolopolo
I watched the kenya vs nigeria game and from what i saw kenya could have been a very good rehearsal. Try out experimental combinations in friendries
England played Khazakistan on Wednesday which is 7 000 miles away and returned to London to face Andorra today in the qualifiers. If FAZ thought the Kenya friendly was necessary, no hitch would have been foreseen. Mind you Kenya are also involved in the qualifiers. Are they immune to injuries? Friendlies should not be a factor if you want to try fringe players and combinations. The conclusion is that the Rwanda match gave Herve Renard much insight on who to use and combinations necessary to beat Algeria.
Otherwise, lets go to South Africa and play Orlando Pirates Academy. They wont break our legs. Lets train on nice pitches in South Africa and come back to train one day on the bumpy Konkola pitch and play poorly against Algeria!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anonymous, no wonder you don’t want us to know your name because you know that you are talking nonsense. Do you know that Capello want to rest regular players for the Andorra game? Because he knows its too much football. If Andora was a friendly, England would have refused. That is the point we are making. How do you expect the team to play three games in three weeks? What if Mweene is injured? Or Chris? Already three players withdrew because of injuries in training, luck enough it was not regulars. You expect them to fly to Kenya, play them-they are a rough team and come back? Why can’t we play them after Algeria game?
collins and james chamanga have been dropped from the team.things dont look good for collins future.the young man needs help.
Georgia Russia, what is your source?
Justice maybe.
Radio Phoneix has confirmed. Renard says he would like to give him a chance to regain his confidence. I personally suspect that the bench may have proved that he wasnt really sick when he missed yesterday’s training session – anyway, mere speculation.
@Chamz
radio phoenix news
Mbesuma alipwa imwe. Do you think sundowns can just off-load him for nothing. Maikosa ba ntofos. I hope its not the end of him now. The guy has really been supported but I think, everything that goes up must always….. Hoping the best for the guy.
I think, the stomach pains (ukufumbilwa( story was just an excuse. Maybe fans have been insulting him. I thought you gain confidence by playing? Anyway, I hope Fwayo, Mayuka even Kola are given a chance, those boys are proven goal scorers.
@Georgia Russia
was there any mention of him looking at replacing the two strikers??
What are reasons for Chamanga?
I don’t think he will replace strikers with Chris, Given, Mayuka, Jacob, Fwayo in the team.
Justice, they have been replaced by Dube Phiri, Andrew Sinkala and Ian Bakala. Lol!
@Big Steve from SA
no replacement was mentioned.but hr is quoted as saying he’s been dropped so that he can regain confidence.romour has it that he might call the young boy kennedy mudenda.
@Chamz
chamanga has been dropped because hes needed in china.not making sense at all.
it will be difficult for collins to bounce back in the team.help has been offered but the young man has lost it and at times i wonder if its juju or wat.which club is gona buy him now.
I missed the news but I have heard that Chamanga and Collins have been dropped. Its sad indeed coz this is the time that he needs the support of every Zambian. Zambians have a tendency of calling a person all sorts of names when they dont need him and yet when he is at his peak, he is a darling for everyone. Depending on how we treat him, we can finnish the young man completely. We need to support him. Yesterday, I spent the whole afternoon with the team at Sunset Stadium and even went to the hotel until 21:45hrs. We need to encourage these boys so much. I heard some of their complaints. Even when the boys are playing, Zambian funs only cheer when the team scores. Its not supposed to be like that. We should cheer at the team after the openning whistle is blown to the end. We must learn from S.Africa, Nigeria and our North African counterparts. Mbesuma is not completely finnished and neither is James.
We still have Jacob,chris, mayuka and singuluma as strikers in our team. Anyway, sad ending for a striker who at one time held a lot of promise as zambia’s main goal getter after the retirement of Kalusha Bwalya. To me the only missing link in this team, is a top man with great finishing instincs, an eto’o or drogba of sorts. Probably that is what the coaching staff was looking for in mbesuma when they recalled him to the team.The coaching staff could be excused for believing that mbesuma’s fitness problems could be sorted out more so that the camping period for the team was going to be longer than usual.It was a matter of unleashing patrice beumelle on mbesuma and all those hatricks and braces or atleast solitary but crucial goals were going to come back for zambia.Alas it appears there is a deeper lying problem to collin’s fitness problem,his attitude.
Nephas tell that to Pastor Makembo
@Nephas Ndhlovu
Mbesuma alipwa iwe. How do you want to believe it?
Nephas we appreciate your concerns for the national team. But isnt that why the Chipolopolo Fans Association or Something and the All National Teams Supporters (ANTS) exist? Sad about the Mbesuma and Chamanga drop, i think this will be the end of the guy. Now, who’s going to partner Jacob upfront? I hope its Mayuka.
Theres nothin sad abt the two being dropped, one missed a penalty, the other culdnt even make a difference after comin on, i dont even kno why Chamanga was called in the first place HR had at his exposal the same players that played against Egypt i dont kno why he didnt start with the same team of course with jus one change at right back.
Isn’t it funny, only we can justify things like risk of injuries as a reason to not schedule friendlies. Injuries are part of the game so just play them when we can. Meanwhile in Europe and South America, teams played on Saturday and they are playing more qualifiers today (Wednesday) why should we be different? Just play and keep improving, vima excuses ku paka.
All of you guys have made me laugh. ‘there is nothing sad about the two being dropped. One missed a penalty, the other couldnt even make a difference after comin on.’ You guys are crude to the boys. Well, Peter Makembo has his own interests. I have never seen his group making a difference in the stadium either. He is vocal for nothing. I am confident he just has a hidden agenda.
Having watched the game from the stadium,my observation is that Mbesuma’s coming on put a lot of pressure on the Rwandese defence unlike Sungulume’s presence.Sungulume is an Ian Rush type of player who thrives on good wing delivery as was the case at Chan where Sakhuwuha and Kennedy Mudenda were very instrumental in providing that service.However,what destroyed everything was the penalty miss and the subsquent negative reaction of the fans which demolirised Mbesuma and alomost got to other players.Lets learn never to let the boys walk alone even if they are off-form.Collins Mbesuma is still a good player and one day help us in future,one wonders why some fans express so much dislike for their own players,sometime i question whether some people on this blog are Zambians indeed!Chipolopolo on that never ticked as expected and sometimes we must learn to accept that not all days are for the thief,somedays are for the owner,luckly we won and in this game of football one may just survive on luck that on skill on an odd day!
We have indeed missed an opportunity to further strengthen our team. Arent we saying that there’s a lot of competition in the team hence the depth ? doest this provide an opportunity to test those that havent had a chance to play, Shouldnt we be testing our level since CECAFA when we drew against them 0:0 Wasnt this an opportunity to see whether we have improved since then ? Should we be surprised about our ranking on FIFA when we remain so inactive internationally as we only rely on FIFA games to earn points. Even if we were required to pay for our own pasage to Kenya, ist it why RB secured those resources ( For preparing the team )
Strategic management at FAZ is seriously lacking.
Fellas, What world cup qualifier did Iraq play? FIFA does not indicate any game played by Iraq in a year when they were eliminated from the qualifiers. Australia and Korea have already won those groups and qualified to SA 2010. If Iraq played it was a friendly. As for Spain there next game is in September against Belgium. So both Billy and steve’s points are irrelevant. Check your facts on FIFA.com/worldcup/preliminaries/asia/standings . I like to know what I am talking about before I make claims. A groin injury will take a players out for months.
Amos I agree with you 100%. We need to learn to support the team whether they are losing or not. What actually makes the team win at home is the support. That is what is called the 12th Player. I disagree with Justice on that school of thought. In Egypt, they have a man that moves with a guitar playing it continually. It is said that fans dont watch the game but just get the results. But the Zambian fans want to watch the game and expect the results. Coach Wedson Nyirenda passionately told me yesterday how that Zanaco lost to Kabyile last time due to the support their opponents had at home. He actually agonized the attitude we Zambians have towards the team and players when they are not scoring.
Its fair the Mbesma and Chamanga chopping. The fans wanted them and the fans saw their nerves when this we have is a potent campain towards our first; brave ones will carry our hopes. See you @ 2010 SA
What do you mean Algerian, i hope you are not thinking of trade in gunpowder. We now have our factories to manufucture gunpowder and we are not condoning human trafficing. Mind the root you use when coming will gun you
@Ismaeel the Algerian
Kolwe
Ha ha ha you guys are funny.
Puch actually the New Zealand soccer team is called All Whites and the Rubby Team All Black. The actually not a bad side after watching them in the first half.
Just some friendly rivalry. Support the your home team. Nothing wrong with it.
Yes kuku time out. Gun powder for what? Don’t scare the fans man. Friendly rivalry Ba.
Its not strange that we ve got an Algerian on this Blog, jus before we played Rwanda there waz a guy called Campos here, guess wat we dont see him no more so am not suprized u will vanish after 20th, anyway gud to kno u will keep us entertained till then. Chipolopolo 4life!!!!!
Ismaeel gud u have some knowledge abt Zambian soccer, well to answer yo question, James Phiri and Gibby Mbasela past on, Charles Musonda is in Belgium attached with Anderlect, Litana is in Zambia on the Copperbelt jus playin Madalas footbal, Joel & Johnson Bwalya i jus dont kno wats happenin to them as 4 Lota last tym i heard of him he was in South Africa but i dont kno as of now Maybe one of the many followers of Zed Soccer on this Blog can highlighten us More..
U are welcom Man, Nkana Red Devils, we call them Kalampa here well this team’s perfomance started to decline jus after the mines withdrew thier sponsorship so Nkana were Demoted to Division 1, they abt 3 seasons there and come back last last year but they culdnt jus find their feet so they were demoted last season but if am not mistaken they are leading the table in division one north hopfully they will be back next season in the premier league.
IWE you are fake. You are a Zambian. Which Ismaeel, with such Nkana biased knowledge of Zambian football. ALLAAA. I agree with what ba Justice referred you to.
Armed Gunman … Im not zambian im Algerian i swear but i like zambian team since long time