Blog: It’s not over until it’s over
- Monday, June 22, 2009, 8:07
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By Ba Muzo
Algeria shamed Zambia on Saturday. That defeat was hard to take. It blew our South Africa 2010 World Cup chances. It’s pangs were felt as far as the pyramids of Egypt (Explains the inexplicable Pharaohs’ capitulation in their 3-0 loss to American no hopers last night to bow out of the Confederations Cup to me). We now have a mountain to climb. At worst we could even miss out on the African Cup of Nations in Angola whose qualification is like a birthright to Zambians.
The Desert Foxes broke their jinx of being bad travelers at Konkola Stadium of all places. Their wretched away form book they tore to shreds. They had not scored on the road in their last four qualifiers! But what a professional performance they put on. They now sit pretty with seven points while Zambia is second on four points having a played a game more than third placed Rwanda and rock bottom Egypt both at one point apiece.
The North Africans danced and sang themselves silly at the final whistle. Who could begrudge them? They achieved the unexpected! Zambia is back at the all too familiar business of mathematical permutations for the World Cup finals at the half way mark of the Group C qualifiers.
The North Africans were always going to be dangerous from set pieces. Their first goal was purely against the run of play. They delivered from nothing really. And the second was no different. Zambia was caught on the counter barely seconds after substitute Fwayo Tembo had failed to restore parity for the home side. The Zambia defence was caught flat footed.
The Chipolopolo Boys paid for their profligacy in front of goal. They did play better than they did against Rwanda but a big fat zero to show for it. As Zambia trailed at the break, Renard brought on Fwayo Tembo and Noah Chivuta from the bench in place of Francis Kasonde and Given Singuluma.
Singuluma looked out of sorts in the first half where he fluffed a simple looking one on one chance against Algerian goal minder Gouoauchi when it would have been easier to stick the ball away into the net. Rightly substituted. But I doubt Kasonde played any worse than the disappointing Chris Katongo who was taken off much later in the second half.
Katongo though still remains a very important player for Zambia in spite of his indifferent performances in the Chipolopolo colours recently. Kasonde started well but petered out as the first half wore with some very erratic passing. He was also guilty of gifting the Algerians the unnecessary free kick that they took with glee to go one up.
Chivuta to his own credit and that of the technical bench injected some pace into Zambia’s forward movement when he came on. The substitution though should have come as early as the first half. But Renard did ring the changes including taking off his captain Katongo. I dare say the Frenchman needs to be encouraged. He seems to be on the right track even though he was outfoxed.
Zambia had as many chances as sand on the sea shore but failed to utilize them. They got punished. Football is such a cruel game when you let chances go begging in such crucial, crunchy clashes.
Herve Renard for once, in my opinion, cannot come in for some flak. He started a line- up that many believed would stand their own against an Algeria side buoyed by their 3-1 defeat of Egypt in Blida over a fortnight ago.
In his post match comments, Renard said he had asked his charges to concentrate on set pieces and even had drawings in the dressing room on paper outlining the Algerian danger points. But his charges came unstuck. He cannot surely be held culpable. The Super Fox did his homework.
This is the point that Physical Trainer Patrice Beumille pointed out to me at Sunset Stadium in Lusaka on Sunday as we watched the FAZ/KCM Premier League Zanaco Vs Zesco top of the table tilt. (May I add my personal admiration for the Frenchmen’s will to work. Barely 24 hours after the Algeria loss in Chililabombwe, was Patrice in Lusaka watching some of the national team players like William Njobvu who had an outstanding match in an unfamiliar holding role in Zesco United win via a Jonas Sakuwaha solitary second half strike alongside their other Zambia team mate Hichani Himoonde).
I found the assistant Zambia trainer forthright in his assessment of the Desert Foxes defeat. He bemoaned the goal shy striking force and the mentality of the players to go flat once dealt a psychological blow. He however, remained upbeat for Zambia’s future.
He pointed out that the technical bench had no problems with bringing back German domiciled Andrew Sinkala who he said they had tried in vain to bring for the friendly against Morocco last year that Zambia lost 3-0 .
The first half performance cried for a play maker for Zambia; a player to pull the strings in midfield. More often than not, Zambia employed long balls. The Algerians who had rubbished the Konkola turf surprisingly were able to string passes with Karim Ziane seeing a lot of the ball in midfield.
I suggest the technical bench reconsiders Andrew Sinkala and Isaac Chansa. But this must not be at the expense of team ethos. No indiscipline should be tolerated. We could also take a look at Charles Musonda’s son, Lamisha. Boyd Mwila is another that must be looked at as an option to our striking malaise. I still feel William Njobvu can be developed into a world beating play maker. Let Collins Mbesuma also up his game. He is needed. He may still be the panacea to our goal scoring shortcomings.
In so saying, I am not suggesting a major surgery to the current squad. These lads must be maintained just as the coach. He has always believed rightly or wrongly that we are not yet good enough to qualify for the World Cup but the Africa Cup. That is a philosophy that we must learn to accept since even his employers subscribe to it. Admittedly, there is merit . Perhaps like he says we overrate ourselves.
May I add here that painful as it may be, when you look at our local league game standards sometimes, you can appreciate the technical bench when Zambia holds Egypt because our level sometimes is not up to scratch. When we held Egypt we punched above our weight!
I also appreciate when Renard and Patrice say that the World Cup is a dream. But the Nations Cup is a reality. In fact Patrice told me, ‘’Look to be fair, I am a young coach (just like Renard), don’t you think I would be happy to take Zambia to the World Cup?’’
I pondered his statement and realized how honest Renard has been with us in his expectations of his charges. He could have easily promised heaven which realistically he knows he cannot deliver given material at hand.
Sometimes, I must admit we put too much pressure on these boys who not too long ago where just in the Kalingalinga neighborhoods. It is that pressure partly that makes them fail to tick at home. In other words, they have not matured into big match temperaments yet. That again can only take time with some painful losses like the one against Algeria in the process. These are learning curves.
Even that revered Gabon perished team had some bad results sometimes. Remember the late Sameul ‘Zoom’ Ndhlovu lost his job when we failed to negotiate past Madagascar away in late 1992 at the genesis of USA 1994 World Cup qualifiers to be replaced by ‘Uccar’ Godfrey Chitalu who masterminded the development of what become a formidable force thereafter. Zambia’s record goal scorer Chitalu took no eternity in transforming the fortunes of the team but the process began long before him.
The Algerians are replete with imported French born players. Zambia needs to round up all our best players everywhere. Let not personal vendettas override national considerations.
Let FAZ organize proper friendlies for the technical bench to try out these players not ORLANDO PIRATES academy side. PLEASE.
At no time in the history of Zambian football has the national soccer team enjoyed such financial fillip now being given to the Chipolopolo Boys. At the end of this campaign there will be no excuse for failure. We must not leave no stone unturned. Let us fail to qualify not for want of putting in proper preparations but that we are just not good enough. This is a friendly warning to the people in charge of football in this country.
Others may disagree but with the demise of the crème de le crème of the Zambia squad in Gabon there was a generation lost. That will take time to replace. But with this current team barring indiscipline we could recover. That is where the technical bench must be supported. I did not think I could ever write like this but remember in my blog against Rwanda I talked about making the change. I see myself changed. No unnecessary emotional criticisms.
The Zambia team currently lacks a big personality like the great Kalusha Bwalya who would take things personal when the chips are down. Remember the way the celebrated 1988 Africa Footballer of the year meandered through the Togolese defence to score one of the finest solo goals ever seen in Zambia in the run for South Korea/Japan 2002.
Great Kalu did get us out of jail many times. Players like Rainford Kalaba who is highly rated by Beaumille, Felix Katongo, Chris, Jacob and others in this current squad need to develop their game and bring it to the plate in this regard. The mental attitude of these players has to be spot on. Concentration at the very limit of excellence.
Pundits have always said we do not need one game shine players. Thereafter prostitutes and wanton alcoholic beverages abuse. Next game, the same star shines are unrecognizable from the previous game.
The cliché ‘success has many fathers but failure is an orphan’ finds expression is such an embarrassing defeat as the one we witnessed at Konkola on Saturday. It becomes difficult to write in a defeat where not many things were done wrongly by Zambia except as Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation Staffer Innocent Kalaluka would say: Mwasanga baleteya! Algeria played and took their very, very few chances. Zambia never came to the party scoring wise. We were left to rue our missed scoring opportunities. At some point, to be fair, it seemed the ball had conspired with the ‘Greens’ not to cross their goal line or was it the Cameroun referee who otherwise had an excellent game denying us a goal. Eish! This was not our day.
I wonder if the Desert Foxes cry baby Rabah Sadaane would be mourning about the Konkola pitch with his victory. By the way, I am reliably informed the Algerians were even trying to lecture to us what centimeters to use when the measurements were being done to put in the goal posts at Konkola on Friday prior to the match. What nerve!
Would anyone anywhere in Africa allow you at their home to suggest such rubbish? We need to screw our stance on these cheeky characters. They must not boss us around whether rightly our pitch is not in good condition. Zambia has been mistreated many times outside our territories but we do not retaliate. That is not to say our goodness to others should be taken for granted.
Many a Chipolopolo faithful may now be asking: what next?
The World Cup door is now narrower. But if Algeria beat us here what could stop Zambia winning in Algeria and Rwanda? And subdue Egypt here?
It is now a toll order admittedly. But there is no other way to look at it. Is there? I nearly forgot. There is an alternative. It is raising the white flag. No!
Never say never in football! It is a funny game! Even steep mountains are climbed against all odds at times. It’s not over until it’s over. Who thought the Americans would be in the semis of the Confederations Cup after two opening heavy defeats? Who thought Red Arrows could beat Ennpi 3-0 after losing 4-0 in Egypt? Come on. This is football.
We can NOW only play the waiting one plus one game. Again like always customary to Zambia. Unfortunately.
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a bitter pill to swallow.the coach did all he could do,the pitch was worked on and chances came our way but we could not take advantage of our chances.what went wrong,i agree with ba muzo that we need players in the likes of kalu who can take things personal when you are down.kalu did quite a number of things including dribbling the entire gabonese defence at indi podo.i did not see that at konkola last saturday,if am to be fair we need players like fwayo tembo,clifford and kennedy mudenda who can confuse defenders and cause panic when in need.i did not see the sense of urgency in our players.i aslo agree with ba muzo that we need to cast the net wide when it comes to players selection.we need sinkala,isaac,boyd mwila and alot more of our players.however the race is still open and i belive we can collect points in rwanda and algeria.
maybe we are out maybe not,, too early to call.This is not time for regrets but its important to point our weakness. firstly if we are to make it, in all honest, we have to beat algeria and egypt by more than one goal(last time i talked about mbesuma’s miss..these are the times were such misses count against oneself)
But having said the in soccer strange things happen…look at USA/ Egypt who knew it was to happen the way it did??
But I still strongly feel the chipungu who has reduced himself to minister of soccer must go and the whole FAZ house must be cleaned if we don’t make it to 2010!….NEVER..NEVER EVER play preperation matches for world cup matches with orlando pirates reserve.its a no brainer..its even better to player all stars vs the rest..
Algeria are in the driving seat. They will play two games at home against Zambia and Rwanda. We can only blame the players. The government and FAZ did their part (camping in SA at a five star hotel). The players failed to deliver. I feel that that Chris must start on the bench now. Give a chance to that Mbewe guy from Red Arrows, a scored a couple of goals in the African club competition, Signs from Nigeria, Boyd Mwila. The US qualified unexpected, we can beat Algeria and Rwanda away and Egpyt at home. But like Ba Muzo has said we are back to mathamatics.
The loss is hurting us all but I dont think any of us expected the road to be easy!! I mea gents we are sounding so negative here yet we stil have three more games to go. What was the expectation that we would win all our games?? C’mon we hit a hurdle and they are three points above us, so what! We still have a very huge chance.
Ba Muzo nice article though I must say you wrote this particular piece with a heavy heart. There is a lot of giving up resounding in the tone of the piece. We played better but our scoring woes continue. We dont have that in the box strker. We haven’t had one since Mbesumas fall from the top of the ladder but we stll have a great team. I agree with Ba Muzo and must say we have debated on it for very long, but we have players out there with a lot to prove but we still chose to ignore. Imagine if if edwin was given just 15 minutes in this game, how he would play his heart out to prove something. I still maintain we need sinkala in the team. Well lets go out and get 9 points from our remaining games instead of crying about one loss.
The curse of a football nation…
Comments reserved for now. Still mourning…..
There is still a chance, if one didnt believe that impossible is nothing the American game did just that. Not forgetting the incredible night in the famous Ac Milan vs Liverpool in istanbul.
The most important game now is Algeria away. If we can beat Algeria then we are back on top with them. I still think we can still beat Egypt at home and Rwanda. Maybe am being a bit too optimistic but that all we can be at this time….. FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH ZAMBIANS!!!!!!
Its now time for the David vs Goliath
We will still rally behind the boys…win or lose,there’s sumthing abt this team that gives me hope..i cant put my finger round it but it’s there…
I think every coach start trusting a number of players. Kalu had his. Patrick Phiri had his and now HR has his. My point is that HR said he will not be playing star. I think Chris, Felix and others have now become stars whom he must bench. We cried for Mbesuma, Mbesuma failed to tick. We cried for Given, Given has failed to tick. Now some people want Clive and Billy!! No. Nyambe and Dennis are fine, besides they are young. I think we need Timothy Mbewe, Boyd Mwila, Chibambo and the Sakala guy from Zesco. I don’t think Sinkala is the solution, our problem is not defence or midfield but strikers. But to be fair to HR he has said the target is Africa cup, at least lets go to Angola. I don’t blame FAZ for not playing friendlies, there was not time. But before the next games, I will blame FAZ if we don’t play friendlies.
Can you pleaz stop dreming of beating AMAVUBI at AHAHORO Stadium in front of president KAGAME…U will be given 3-0.Algerians were lucky to draw here…and they hv banged u 2-0 at home ..Final table AFTER ALL GAMES
1.RWANDA
2.ALGERIA
3.EGYPT
4.ZAMBIA
Campos, you are back. I have taken the defeat with grace. Algeria came and scored the goals and won. Campos that means you have to beat Algeria away, Egpty home and away and Zambia. Good luck my brother. I respect people who anaylse objectively like Ba Muzo, the rest of the people are just that-sentimental.
It was just not our day. We equally had chances but failed to convert. It’s really sad because we had possession and we lacked the finishing touch which is in Mbesuma.
WE ARE CAPABLE OF DOING SO….
We need experience!!,Here is what Lippi says;
”
Marcello Lippi was understandably disappointed following the contest, and one would expect that the his position as coach of the country will come under further scrutiny in the coming days.
“We are sorry to be out of the competition, but it is not because Brazil are stronger than us,” Lippi affirmed in a post match press conference.
“We knew that Brazil were always going to be strong, as they are one of the best in the world.”
The coach continued by responding to those who have criticized him for not selecting younger players for this particular tournament.
He added, “You speak about young players. Which young players? Do you just throw young players into these matches? Youngsters have to be introduced gradually.
“We must stay calm, and keep in mind that it is important to have experience in these types of matches.
“You can’t just throw in seven or eight young players, because they have to be mature. [Giuseppe] Rossi has played three games, not entirely, but he did, so I don’t know what you are talking about.”
I believe this!.We need Sinkala and Chansa (even Bakala at some point) to complement some younger talents we have.Zambia has alot of Ball Jugglers and dancers.Most of our players will start dancing infront of goal even when the opportunity is there to score.We still have a chance to go to SA if we win all our remaining games.
THE AMAVUBI ARE EXPECTED TO PLAY 2DAY AGAINST All STAR AFRICA ..AM ABT TO GO TO AMAHORO STADIUM TO SEE THE LIKES OF Didie Drogba,SAMWEL ETO ..THE KORO AND YAYA TOURES…I THINK THIS WLL BOOST AMAVUBI S morale…
THE PAPER
Duo part of star-studded side for the One-Dollar campaign
June 22
Amavubi v African Stars
SAMUEL Eto’o Fils and Didier Drogba are part of a star-studded African side that will play against Amavubi Stars in a charity game aimed at supporting the ‘One Dollar campaign’ for survivors of the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi.
The Minister of Sports and Culture, Joseph Habineza confirmed their visit during yesterday’s press conference at Amahoro stadium. The game will be played on June 22.
“On June 22, Rwanda will host a charity football game aimed at boosting the ‘One Dollar Campaign’,” Habineza said.
The 13-man team includes also includes
Yaya Toure(Barcelona), Rigobert Song (Galatasaray), Kolo Toure(Arsenal), Alexander Song (Arsenal), Salomon Kalou (Chelsea), Geremi Njitap (Newcastle), Idriss Kameni (Espanyol), Boubacar Sanogo (Bremen), S. Toure(Ivory Coast), Idriss Ilolo (Ivory Coast) Emmanuel Eboue (Arsenal).
Ghana and Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien is yet to confirm his availability since Ghana are scheduled to play Sudan in a 2010 World/Africa Nations Cup qualifier on the weekend of June 20-21.
It is reported that President Paul Kagame will foot the players’ travel costs to and fro. Away from the pitch, the players will pay a courtesy call to the President, visit the Kigali Genocide memorial site as well as visit and share experiences with orphans.
The ‘One Dollar Campaign’ for Genocide Survivors is a project developed by the Rwandan Diaspora community and supported by DGD (Diaspora General Directorate) in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation.
Its mission is to improve the living condition and social welfare of vulnerable genocide survivors and to give them a smile on their face and hope for the future.
That is what has to be done under these circumstances. It is difficult to beat Algeria at home but not impossible. They may not have been beaten at their home ground in a long time but we can still change that. Our players need to be psyched up into seeing that this is possible. Punch for punch, in an open game and on A GOOD PITCH, it would be a 50 50 affair. We have to inculcate this belief that it can be done!
You are also sentimental and higly un-objective.
Good for you, it really boast your team and most importantly it will help those who have been affected by Genocide especially the young ones
@campos
Its a hard pill to swallow, but gents, never say die. I for one will continue have drown my sorrows and taken off my mourning gear. I now look forward to our next games. The chance is still there, as ba Muzo has said, the boys need to stand up and be counted. The road is always long and bumpy but the battles we win clearly outstrip our losses. We shall overcome.
Campos, thanks for that information and well done to your football association, President and fans for coming up with such a great initiative. For Zedians on this site, how I wish we could take the initiative like this. Zambia was victim to one of the worst sporting disasters the world has ever seen. Yet on the 15th anniversary we did nothing to help the families of those victims or our footballing community. How useless are we?! Given the chance this all star African team would readily play our current team. But there is no vision or ambition at Football House. What a pity.
Ba Muzo, nice article yet again brother. On Saturday I made the decision that I will be flying back home from UK for the Egypt match. I think it could come down to this final match. Let’s start organising a zamfoot bloggers section in the crowd! It was nice to hear the band playing throughout Saturdays match, it sounded like there was a fantastic atmosphere in Chillies, well done to all that went to cheer.
we stil game.we can beat algeria and rwanda away.i strongly belive we can achieve it.
This whole article is just rubbish .. The writer writes something and, few paragraphs later, contradicts it .. we know our team’s limits .. please do not insult our intelligence.
we need players who can rise the tempo of the game wen trailing behind.e.g clifford mulenga,fwayo tembo,willie njovu and kennedy mudenda
Continue dreaming. You lose at home and expect to win away in the Monde Arabe. My foot. Saadame is all smiles now. Its you who will cry more now.
Amen Ooohhh! I will just be supporting Ghana my team next at 2010 WC.
Good points Ba Muzo. Big Steve I cant agree more with you. We need to pick up our pieces and soldier on this is not the time to mourn we are in the middle of the battle. We have to win the remaining three games to qaulify otherwise we are doomed.
I liked the fans mentality they gave the team support when they needed support the most, even now fans should continue to support the team and our FA they need our support now more than ever before.
These players you’ve mentioned are useless. They have been tried and tested. What have they achieved? The team is ok. The only problem is we dont have strikers. It seems Chris seems to be going down the dream. I hope he is not following the Mbesuma route, which I doubt because Chris is atleast well organised, discplined and focussed. He will pick up himself soon. He is the only player I thot would rise to the occassion but aside him, there is none. We need creative players like him and Mbesuma to rise to the occassion when chips are down, but alas, Chris is not himself and Mbesuma is not there. I have never had cinfidence in Jacob as he is useless at goal. He would have been an answer to the scoring problems we have in the absence of Mbesuma but he is not a natural goal scorer. Zambia paid the price for not scoring and the chance is gone. This leaves the team in a very difficult position to qualify and I see Algeria going to the WC. Egypt, like Zambia, will equally fail to go to WC 2010 next year. Unfortunately thats the reality we find ourselves in. The earlier we accept the situation the better. Lets just hope to do better in the remaining games and dont hope too much for 2010 qualifications to avoid heart attacks.
People are now even mentioning Ian Bakala!! People u are funny. Our team can’t just score. Had we scored 3- goals and Algeria came back to win 4-3, then you can say the defence or midfield. I don’t see the difference Sinkala or Chansa will make when the problem is scoring goals. Going but what happened with the USA in SA, I think any of these teams can qualify for 2010.
Well articulated article ba Muzo. Never say never Chipolopolo. This is the game of football. Anything is very much possible. The team is still very fine though a few changes particularly the frontline needs to be done. I don’t think Chris Katongo is in his best form at the moment; maybe starting him from the bench would jolt him from his slumber. This Singuluma chap seems to have lost it. He seems not stable under big pressure; a proper finisher need to be discovered (a professional who is propelled by the fans electric atmosphere – be it hostile or otherwise).
The price of a world cup place doesnt come easy . If you think zambia deserves a place then work hard and go and win the last three games . Its possible , we need more determination and we need to double our preparations . Organise a few friendies in north africa as soon as possible.
You said : ” This is the game of football. Anything is very much possible.” So, why do you think it is IMPOSSIBLE for Singu to improve to a seasoned player ?
The main concern is the 3 points we gifted Algeria, thats what is worrying. It wouldnt (so to say) have been a very big issue had we drawn. Both teams would have been at 5 points each. Thats where the problem is. Another win for Algeria will take them to 10 pts. Everything seems to favour them. Two home games against Zambia and Rwanda, and an away to Cairo. The problem is Zambia may even struggle in Rwanda.
Yaaa kaya mwe.
Good one. Yet still why is it IMPOSSIBLE for our players to score goals.
It’s just one loss, don’t let it become more than that ( emotionally), although it was humbling and so on… Much depends on what we do NOW fellow bloggers. People can count us out if they so wish, but it’s just silly pride, ego and emotion talking … The fact is we are not out. It’s clear some fans have no real respect for our boys or what we are trying achieve when they put them down so harshly… Don’t be Fickle fans, be as hard as our beloved team.
Let Algeria go thinking they have already qualified , truth be told i would rather it them than us, they will have Egypt, Rwanda and us in their nightmares believe me!
Before we play the next game i hope some of our delegation makes a point of commending Algeria to FIFA for a wonderful pitch and stadium. Two can play a game.
It’s hard to fault anything in the game, but much can be improved… In hind sight we could have done with a real friendly match… Calling for other players, is more for refreshing and not replacing the squad we already have, it would help to do so at this point…
We have got to accept that certain players have already reached their potential. very few of our boys can get better than they already are not to say what they curently are is not good. I see it in boys like Kalaba and Mbola. next season should Kalaba get game time in Braga colours you will see a totally different player when he features for chipolopolo. Given on the other hand will always be Given. Should Mbola end up getting game time in a league like the premiership or france in 6 months you will be seeing a toaly different player. Even Chris cant get better than he already is. again not to say what these players are is not good.
The team, players and coach have a lot of work but to think that some of these players will develop beyound this stage is a dream.
yes it is hard to chew but the reality is that we had a great game but unfortunately failed to score worse conceeded two avoidable goals by the ‘lucky’ algerians. this is the nature of football, unpredicable at times and so there is still as much hope for Zambia as is for the other three teams for now, watch my words, if algeria fails to beat zambia at thier home (my hope is that we turn tables against them, very possible, remember SA encounter, SA 1 Z 3 in SA?)regardless of the result between Egypt and Rwanda the picture will look very different form the way it is today … football is not always about what we may know but about what happens n the pitch on a particular time … the same time can beat Algeria in Algeria even by three goals … this is not a far fetched dream but a real possibilty and i wish someone would encourage our boys/men never to say die … otherwise no need to travel to Algeria if we are going with the mind of being defeated … like ive said before better die with hope than none at all … it is our time to set new and great records … my theme and hope for all things partaining to mother Zambia … God bless the republic … let us all wait for Sept 2009. we don’t need new players, we have achieved what we have so far with the same time, just need to polish up on our scoring prowess … yes we can … blessed be the republic en Shalom
July 5 is way too soon. The Foxes will still have the psychological advantage while we will be going in after a few days of major technical surgery. Does not look good.
HR was right from the beginning: Lets think CAN 2010! To the team we believed in you and support you till this day. We wait for the day when you will believe in yourselves after Saturday’s performance. When you get their we will still be singing the same song and wearing the same colours. There is nothing left to loose. We have seen 100% performance. Football, great football, is a 150% affair.
Sadly, I’ll admit come WOZA 2010, am buying a Bafana Bafana jersey. COSAFA sneaked in by one through the hosting door. Would have loved a different story. Must I dream on or wake up?
Mulenga back at Wits
Posted: 2009-06-22 13:19
Clifford Mulenga has returned back to Bidvest Wits after his loan deal with Thanda Royal Zulu expired.
Mulenga spent six months in Durban but his stay with Thanda was unsuccessful after the team was relegated.
Wits coach Roger de Sa has confirms to KickOff.com that the midfielder has started training with his club.
Mulenga has been linked with a move to either Orlando Pirates or Mamelodi Sundowns.
Bucs have already loaned defender Michael Morton to the Students.
“The Morton deal has nothing to do with rumours of Mulenga going to Pirates. If that was the case he would not been training with us,” the former Bafana Bafana goalkeeper says
De Sa refused to speculate about Mulenga’s future with the Students. He was allegedly loaned to Thanda after experiencing disciplinary problems at Wits.
“He is our player and that’s all I can say,” he adds.
Guys we lost to a French team. Our team is young and most of them playing at home. Even the Algerian coach said Zambia lack experience. The Algeria team is made of French citizens who are not good enough to play for France. I am sure that the team is doing fine, a lot of them, will not want to play for the team so that they can play at the World Cup. I thought this was our year. Lets not give up. We can beat them in Algeria. I am sure overconfidence is slowly coming in. Lets hope they will hit a low by the team we play them. Football has peaks and slumps. The other thing is that we have placed a lot of expectations on our team, HR is right, thet target is Africa Cup.
@Big Steve from SA
I think most of the players know now, that one day you can be the hottest thing and the next day you are seen as just another player. That’s when you become more mature… life itself is funny, you can watch a close family member die before you , painful, but it can bring everything into perspective… Why does it take such loss, for someone to change or just realize… All of a sudden going to kabulonga is like scoring a hat trick or a long range free kick, easy.
More to your point Big Steve, I think the guys can improve no end, it will take something from them and continued belief/encouragement/investment from people like us .
There is along way to go before our guys are among the best players in Africa, it’s a fine line but a long way at the same time. As i say i’m not scared of losing, i’m only scared of going backwards. We started something and we will see it through.
Big Steve, the guys will improve more, i think they are maturing right now.
Am sorry if i insulted you! I accept constructive criticism. It can only make one better. Point out the contradictions if you can. I will appreciate it like I appreciate others like Chamwe, Mabbwana, Whisper,Armed Gunman,Vincent Numbwa, Big Steve etal not because they say good things about the articles but because they discuss things maturely and use intelligence in the love of Zambian soccer.
I understand you if you are very annoyed. Cool down and live another day. In football there are no permanent enemies. Good day.
You forgot me Ba Muzo. (Joking)
btw I also appreciate the comments of KK11, he has cool head mostly when others are hot.
Who is this Kayira? We almost have the same surname mine is Kaira. Anyway Kayira, what is your point?. If you don’t agree with Ba Muzo, write an intelligent blog and tell us why. Your views are just like those of FIFA (who seems to have personal issues with Kalu). FIFA says we lost because of Kalu. How? The last time we prepared so well for a tournament was before the 1994 cup in Tunisia. To be fair to FAZ, the programme was tight for friendly games. However we now have up to September to play friendlies, if we don’t I will criticise FAZ for that. We lost not because of the coach, preps were good, govt provided support. We don’t have strikers-full stop. Leave Ba Muzo alone, long before you knew about this site, we have been discussing the pros and cons of Zambian football. Yes we differ but we are not angry with one another, in fact we are great friends with Zambia at heart. Why do people resort to insults and personnel attacks, when they have a different opinion? I think Zamfoot must start deleting some of these comments.
I left you out so we can joke (joke)…I am laughing out loud (lol) but I SAID ETAL meaning with many others…Uncle Bobs,KK11,Spaks, Dinamo,Kelvin Namiye,Justice Kafusha, James Zulu,George Russia,and MANY OTHERS that make Zamfoot interesting….
By the way, I am an optimist who is also very passionate about Zambian affairs, not just football, like most people on this site. However, I do not claim to have monopoly of thoughts.
Kayira, please elaborate on why the article is rubbish. You may wish to equally educate us on the contradictions. My opinion is that you subscribe to the pull him down school of thought. Someone writes a well researched article and the best you can do is try to dampen his spirit by saying its rubbish. Ba Muzo, dont let such statements deiscourage you, the majority of us appreciate your reports’.
much as i do’t agree with kayira’s outbust…i want to disagree with you on FAZ and the government.
Get me right I DON’T support or agree with kayira…but your sweeping of the mistakes that FAZ and government(as chipungu) have made under the mat is what has put us all in difficult position in terns of 2010 dreams.
Friendlies should have lined up the first day we knew about 2010 world cup not a week before a big match..thats a big failure, and this is because chipungu instead of using his head is just commenting and addressing on petty issue like gate fees..and the guy has reduced himself to minister of soccer. Kalu is more confortable in supersport studios than at FAZ house….and munaile he’s in a world of his own..just looking a that senario, you should see disorganisation.How you think chipungu and FAZ can make it work…they can’t period , that’s why the must go..period.
I genuinely asked God why we have been on the unfortunate side.He then told me that the answer lies on one PATRICK KABAMBA the zanaco striker. He then continued and said just as i gave Davied to save egypt from famine so have i given you. You dont need to look elsewhere. You may want to argue that he is congolise but ask him he will tel you that he didn’t com with the so called itu.He is the mbesuma we sow in congo and against malawi in the privouse qualification
No wonder we lost. The visitors were in the home colours. Zambia in white. Now here I have to blame FAZ. Why does our team were national colours? No wonder Algeria felt at home in green, which they are supposed to wear away. Why white? Green is our luck colour-1994, the team that perished wore green most of the time.
KATONGO PREDICTS TROUBLE FOR ALGERIA
this was a quote from last friday’s post a day before zambia played algeria.
katongo went on to say i quote “we have studied thier game against egypt but as u knw arab teams know each other very well and the result against egypt shud not suprise people but they have issues playing out of that region.
the nil nil result shows gainst rwanda shows that they struggle away from home. but from what i saw against egypt,they have a compact side midfield with dangerous wing play,especially on the left and tricky on the so called set pieces,so we shud be cautious.
these were words of chris katongo”
our boys knew wat was expected in that game and the goal came from the left wing.zambia put up a gud performance on saturday.but do we have wat it takes to come from behind when playing a team like algeria.do we have super subs who can come and raise the tempo of the game.remeber the days of gibby mbasela and timothy mwitwa,these pleyers who would come in and boast up morale whenever zambia was playing.were was mbola and musonda when the second goal was scored.zambia is still in the race,but i strongly belive the boys need to be exposed to international soccer not orlando pirates.
Ba Muzo, i respect you and all effort and take time you must take to write the articles/blogs. I respect the responsibility it is to everyone involved and i can see that… Better you than me bro.
I do not claim to have monopoly of thoughts either, only that i hope that valid points are engaged equally and fairly. I’m not saying this your fault or anyone elses, i’m simply highlighting this issue. It’s difficult though – through the medium of internet text and even real life for this to be achieved fully this i realize.
There are trends that emerge, like always bigging up friends and the like minded so to speak… As i say i’m highlighting something but it’s just something for people to be aware of. I love all the bloggers and posters here even when they are radicals and i can’t agree, it shows the fighting spirit and i love that.
I had no idea what etal means, but i did know you meant among others… As always keep up the good work.
Sorry guys-why does our team not wear national colours? Algeria wore the home jersey away as Zambia a natural white? It means in Algeria, we have to wear white again since Algeria will use the home colour-green. We don’t have pitches and we cant even wear national colours. The blame for this one is FAZ.
Good article, I think we have a very good chance of getting the next 9 points. The team played very well, and anyone who thinks we are not good enough to win the next 3 games is not being honest. It was like watch Arsenal, painful, but you know that at any moment it will be floodgates. I am confident we will do great.
The harder we have fallen the hihger we will rise.
Kayira, unless you are not a patriotic Zambian, then this result wont hurt you. So please stop the insulta and lets see how we support our team going forward. Algeria is beatable…any team is beatable with the right attitude. Abena Chris Katongo and company just need to come to the party and die a little for Zambia. Adopt the attitude Egypt took against the World champions or against Brazil. Somehow i think its good for us to loose now pantu we were going to be over our heads thinking of SA2010, then if we lost later, HR’s blood was going to be called for. The loss has brought us down to earth, to rethink our strategy and loose the complacency. However, i still believe we can suprise all the pessimists and go to SA.
Short and sweet answer. Ok we will disagree.
You hit the nail on the head. i remember Marcha saying our home colour (copper) would be worn against our next opposition. Now i wonder how that white has dominated us. FAZ change to copper, many there is a curse on the white jersey…
We shall beat Algeria in their backyard. We will make them drink their own medicine. We will pack ourselves in defence and catch them on the break. It is easier to play away than at home. However we need all players that are good enough for Zambia to be called to duty.
@Justice Kafusha
yes we can ba justice.there is nothing special about that algerian team.
Justice, which players do you have in mind? I feel, HR is right, lets target 2010 SA like he always said. I am sure if Sinkala plays and we lose people will find something else to say. We said the Given/Chris combinition, it failed to tick, Mbesuma was a one day wonder, Chamanga, Mayuka, Fwayo, all these people have played still no goals. Algeria is not there yet for those who know football, what makes us think they will win the remaining games?
Its been interesting to sit back and read all the reactions from the fans on this blog. I am in agreement with most of those who have critically looked at the game in its entirety and come to the conclusion that we did not LOOSE the game we gave it away. Now Ba Muzo great article, i woul like to commend u on ur well thought out balanced take on the game. I agree with you almost entirley but i would have to say that Algeria did not “SHAME” us, i see nothing about our peformance to be shamfefull about. If the ALgerians had come out and completely dominated us and scored 3 or 4 goals then i would agree with your statement.
Now this gets to my pet peeve with some on this blog, its the words they use sometimes to decribe our team or a moment. Some have called FAZ fools or the team “amakula”, some have called the players are called hopeless or Renrad just another “Physical Trainer”.”The coach did not use the correct tactics”, Really? When we tied Egypt the same individuals were calling the team Hero’s and Herve a god send, now after a home defeat the coach does not know what he is doing and the players are average.If you are a true fan and have the Chipolopolo at heart, stop the mudd slinging and finger pointing cause we are all in this together thru victory or defeat.They failed to score, not because of tactics or Kalusha or because they are not good or the defence THEY JUST COULD NOT SCORE!! Stevie wonder could see that we were better than the Agerians and Fact of the matter is if they converted 50% of the chances its a 4-2 score or so and every one would be talking about how great they are. But such is the nature of us FANS VERY FICKLE!
Ba mUzo has more or less covered my sentiments on where we are and what we need to do, i think the WC qualifiers came a year or two too early for us but this pool of talent we have is the best since the legendary KK11 and they need our entire support throuhg good times and bad times. Our world cup dreams are on life support but we still have destiny in our own hands.
I watched the match last night. Algeria are not as good as they think. Their football is counter attacking i.e. they play like robots. My main worry about Zambia like I said efter watching the Zambia VSs Rwanda (A special thanks to Gametime) was the way we have changed from a passing game to long balls flying over the midfield. Our team is not bad at all but we shall always have room for improving. Yes Chamanga, Mayuka, Fwayo have played but for how many minutes in relation to others. If we have to be fair it is better to give these guys 90 minutes and then we see. I think that players like Clifford Mulenga, Isaac Chansa, Andrew Sinkala, Boyd Mwila and some locally based players can add value to our team. Our current team are good but experience is vital in games at this level. It is not only the strikers who should score, Algerias first goal was scored by a defender. A combination of Andrew, Felix, Kalaba, Sakuwaha, Isaac and Fwayo can be deadly. Chris needs a rest. He has been so disappointing and he is captain for that matter
If HR plays his cards right we will surprise not only Algeria but ourselves. Our boys as at now need support and not ama negative. To be frank I knew aba ma Arab were going to wire us after watching the Rwanda game, that aside I have a feeling we are going to wire them right in front of their fans. We are going to beat them.
What beats me are all these balls flying over our midfield, yashani? HR is being paid a lot of cash and as such he should come up with a winning formular. Anyway I was pissed off on Saturday but I am now at easy. It is just 3 points and there is no garanti that Algeria will walk over Rwanda and Egypt, this group is wide open. Algeria will loose in Egypt that they know, Vs Rwanda they will not win that they know and we wire them chapwa.
@Chamz
That is why we should played that friendly Vs Kenya, to polish up and give other players a chance. 9-0 Vs Orlando Pirates under 16/17 is not good enough. It is better to play Zanaco and Zesco even Nchanga Rangers or Konkola Blades cause who knows maybe there is a boy there with the talent of scoring goals.
My advice to Zed players is that they as well close their mouths before big games, not just talking to the press with over confidence it does not pay. I think Zambia players were over confident, which is dangerous
Its a great blog and very interesting to get the various takes on what went wrong on saturday against Algeria and the general state of the Zambian game. My take on this is that at the moment we dont have what it takes to be world beaters least a force to reckon with on the continent in terms of players. A look at the current squad shows we come very short in depth and technical ability . Zambia has always fared well when a reasonable number of its players have been highly rated either on the continent or in Europe. The journey to SA 2010 has been made difficult but not impossible. At times a dose of reality in time helps to ease the pain.
am zipped 4 2day, catch u all 2moro otherwize its not over until its over this be football we all kno what happens.
@Big Steve from SA
you are right my brother
I have followed with interest the articles and comments post our defeat against Algeria. I have been trying to refrain from writing in the blog but the addiction got the better of me, here goes.
It was interesting to note the comments on conduct in the blog. I think freedom of speech within in a respectable framework must exist in order to keep the blog alive. If it becomes a bootlicking forum then it will cease to add value. If it becomes a swearing contest, it will degenerate into an unpalatable cocktail of obscenities.
It is clear that all Zambians are disappointed. We need to put the loss in context. We are expected to win home games against opposition like Algeria. Why did we lose. I don’t think you can blame the coach because looking at the team sheet ahead of the game the majority of people would have agreed with the selection. I think the problem lies with our front three of C. Katongo, J. Mulenga and G. Singuluma. Allow me to explain. I don’t think there is anything particularly wrong with the players, but on the day they were not 100%. Not even 50%. Jacob missed a sitter that would have changed the complexion of the game, Given missed a decent chance that he hit straight at the keeper and a good chance to score with his head that sailed over the bar. Chris just didn’t come to the party. What do you expect the coach to do if all three strikers have a bad game? He did his utmost and made timely substitutions. We need to be clinical in front of goal. I think Given has failed to find the net and should be dropped on the argument that he has no secondary functions. Jacob should be given another chance because he is full of running and good movement on and off the ball however his primary function is to score and he hasn’t done that in a Zambian jersey for a while now. Chris, well, well, well. I think Chris needs to assert himself on games more. He is a finisher and knows where the net is but hasn’t got into those positions often enough. Possible solutions are a adopting 4-4-2 and have Chris and Jacob upfront. Another solution could be to bring in Mayuka (good off the ball movement, good on the ball with a great first touch), Chamanga (cool in front of goal) or Kola (good build and full of running, we have seen the importance of some height).
Some positives came out of this game. Mbola proved that he is not going to fizzle out like some youngsters. He showed again that he is the real deal and a gem to polish. Muzo played well and showed that our overlapping style of play can work. Both put in some good crosses (low and high) with no one to meet the ball. Another positive is the Felix and Kalaba pairing. It worked well with some neat interchanges and moves steming from the midfield duo.
I am still gut wrenched. I cringe every time I see an article or hear about the game but such is life…back to the mathematics or commutations and permutations to take us through – aluta continua.
I Like the way you responded to him, it shows a lot of maturity from you. And please continue with the good work ba Muzo, some people will never just appreaciate.
Lots of respect …
@Monk P
@Kolokombwa
Appreciate it guyz. Makes me want to go on. The moment what I do is rubbish to people like you AND OTHERS showing appreciation, then I will GLADLY disappear as I came.
@Ba Muzo </a
I am not surprised that some people can not think. I do not see anything wrong with your article. If I did see something wrong well then I will come up with a better one. Kayira has not come up with a better article than yours cause that is the only way he can prove u wrong
@Ba Muzo
BA MUZO DO NOT DISSAPER, DISREGARD THE PEONS THEIR COMMENTS SPEAK VOLUMES ABOUT WHO THEY ARE AND WHAT THEY STAND FOR. Avoid loud and agressive persons they are a vextion to the spirit!
Bakamba Ba Kayira your opinion respected but ka language kuti mwachitako moderate-the beauty of democracy. Ba Muzo worry not and take it as feedback, pa last kukaba naba Kayira when/if you meet.
I would want to be confident but history has taught me bitter lessons. Let’s wait and see. Yaba ala nakutalala ku Msanzi, wednesday indetambako ama bola kuno.
hi zambian brother
we are still the outsider (cause we’aren’t yet qualifier)and yu always the favouryte (cause yu make too much calculations).. all my respects and with fairplay..
now guys, are you coming to algeria or not?
bakulu ba nams senegal beat us home and away under kalu remember in our last world cup campaign
my pronostic
1- Algeria
2- Egypt
3- Zambia
4- Rwanda
i don’t see egypt or zambia qualify in WC 2010 because algeria play a very goog game, and never team can defeat algeria at home, since 9 match i think , so i don’t see zambia defeat algeria sorry but it’s my pronostic
but the important, GOOOO SPAIN !!!!!
Your brother from spain
Keep your insults coming, poor Chamz.
Let me clarify this to the other readers (not to Chamz dirty mind) :
Contrary to what you say, IT IS THE ALGERIAN PLAYERS WHO PLAY FOR THE FRENCH TEAM, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND (Remember Zidane, Benzema, Nasri, Mekhloufi, etc. ).
Now, if the Algerian players were French, would have FIFA allowed it ?
Keep the insults coming, dirty mind. You are just digging a deeper hole for yourself ..
(Tim Vickery) – “the physical development of football has made it much harder for teams to play an expansive passing style through the middle of the field. Instead, matches are won and lost at two key moments – set pieces and transitions (those moments when possession changes hands from one side to the other)”.
Gametime12: This is what you and others have failed to appreciate.When you have rookies in the team, such moments (when you lose pessession & during set pieces) are critical.The likes of Nyambe and Dennis need time to mature.They will be good defenders in two years.Listen to what the Italian coach said about experience.It counts the most in games of big magnitude.Young players must be introduced gradually into the main team.There are exceptions obviously, once in a while you have an exceptional young talent (eg Mbola).The goals in this particular game came from the two points mentioned above.The central defense failed to effectively deal with the set piece, and then we lost possession while trying to score and the algerians counter attacked.Joseph Musonda, who to me is not a fullback but rather a wing back had moved forward in attack as is required of a wing back.The central defense shoulde have moved in to cover.But for them being rookies.Joseph and Emmanuel are not fullbacks, they are wing backs as such they need experienced central dfenders to cover them.They are not like the usual fullbacks that we had in the early 90’s (Whatson Changwe or John Soko)who could do a sliding tackle.
Thus my arguement is, Renard,in all his wisdom, has been & is wrong in using the Dennis/Nyambe partnership.It might have worked in Egypt, but it was never going to hold for long.
The other point is about our strike force that evrybody seems to be talking about.What we need is a natural finisher.A “Malaza” of sorts(& Mbesuma is one).It is folly to think that we can go to Algeria & beat them 2 – 0 when we have failed to score more than a goal in the last God knows how many games.I am not advocating for a complete overhaul of the team.But we do need changes.The defense for starters,either Nyambe or Dennis could be partnered with a more seasoned defender who is also tall (our aerial ability in defense was also suspect),in midfield – Kasonde to me is a defender and must be used as such.Chivuta accounted well for himself, but we still need Sinkala,Isaac Chansa.The wing pairing of Kalaba & Felix seems to be okay, but at times Felix seems to lose focus.As for Christopher, i think this is just a temporary loss of form, perhaps because of his teams indifferent performance in the bundesliga.He is one of our most relable guys and with his discipline he will surely come out.Renard must bench him the next game.We still need Mbesuma.In the Rwanda game,had it not been for the penalty miss, i feel we would have seen Mbesuma perform.The miss defeated him psychologically.He shouldnt have been dropped.I dont know how dropping him helped!
All in all, we still do have a chance to qualify.I am confident that if we can just put our house in order, the chance is still there.Lets not despair fellow Zambians, all hope is not lost.
Algeria, September is around the corner. The smell of our wound is still fresh. Egypt travels to Rwanda next month, will they win? I say let the same boys play Algeria again, they can redeem themselves. Algeria was clearly out played. I believe Algerian players will be relaxed thinking its in the bag, since they beat Egypt a bigger fish. Sadaane played excellent mind games. Saying he would play air balls and then turning around and using ground passes and the midfield. The freekick and the counter attack pass came from the midfield.
I think Mbesuma draws attention away from Chris. Mbesuma is good for Chris. The defenses focus on Mbesuma because of his potential lethargy therefore releasing the real threats, the Katongo brothers. Chris has not lost form he just needs a diversion of attention. I watch him play in the Bundesliga.
Hlexi We all know that Nyambe Mulenga and Denis are not experienced, but they are the best the country has to offer right now. Renard tried tana and Mischeck Lungu, they both could not perform. We don’t want defenders that make silly mistakes (Billy Mwanza, Nketani etc). We can all agree that the two goals that Algeria scored were difficult to defend. Other than the two goals, the boys have been stable. Hlexi who then do you suggest HR should use as the center backs? Look Italy has more experienced defenders than us and they just allowed three goals in the confederations cup, not to mention that one of the goals was an own goal. Again counter attacks are usually difficult to defend. Someone on this blog just explained the whole idea behind a counter attack, which is to catch you while you’re sleeping.
Gentleme!
Do you know why David Met Goliath?
“David met goliath so that he could discover the giant in him”
We are still in contention, if Egypt currently placed bottom in our group still believe they are going to the world cup then why should we give up now. This the game of football, I will encourage and urge HR to pick up the pieces and regroup, learn from the mistakes so that we will even be stronger when we play the remaining games.
Ku kosa fye.
Right on Skillari, I guess Renard is right when he says that We set the standards too high for the young lads. We are not Cameroon, Morocco, or even Egypt. these teams have a record yet they are struggling to qualify, I can imagine how much pressure they are getting from their fans. We are a team that has never been to the world cup or We’ve never won the African cup of nations. We are still building a team, and this one seems to be more promising than the previous ones.
Ba Muzo its over, don’t dream too much. Just face reality. Your call to cast the web wide has also come too late. We were advocating for that way before these matches, what were you saying then? “That we had a capable team”. Now it is too late we just resigning ourselves to be watching Algeria in South Africa in 2010. I hope people have learned a lesson from this fiasco “That being big headed cannot get us to the world cup”.
@Gametime12
The team is young, but those guys are well supported and have no interest in being foolish! It might be coming a little too early as people have said, but the thing is we are still not out yet and i certainly have not counted us out either. Even a young team such as ours can qualify for a WC, it’s no less easy and no less hard. This idea that we should win the group before the group finishes is what got EGypt in trouble!
Ba Muzo I know everyone has a right to an opinion on this blog .But these pesimists should be banned!Ndaba ine mudala chini baba mwandini tika wina ndiye ma number one ku sabayila but ngati ta luza ndiye ba first to say we wont qualify .Mwati do they know that kuti kuli 3 more games (ie possible nine points ) and one of those games is against algeria meaning if we win all our games We will qualify.And yes we are not naive to the fact that we have a difficult task ahead of us and algeria have the upper hand .But all those who have given up please keep your opinions to your selves ndaba some of us are hurt when we read people giving up when the opportunity is still available unless after we fail to get a result in algeirs you can all share your pesimistic thoughts but as we still have chance please mu nkale chete .Let us try and get back into this competition .So guys I know this the most difficult time to back them but my appeal to all of you is lets get behind the team whether we are happy with HR`s selection or not .You guys may think I am crazy but I strongly believe we will make it to south africa 2010 because if we dont it will be the first time since africa got the five world cup places that no team south of the equator will be on those five spots .The last three world cups we had 1998,2002 south africa and 2006 angola .So we are the flag bearers for Cosafa go Zambia go .
^ Also it’s not the fans only that set this standard, it’s Nyambe, Dennis and others. Ask them if they believe they can? The effort they show, we fans will match with supportt. At the END of day we will say it was bridge to far or whatever.
There are a lot of things that Renard has done right ,credit to him but there is a lot of ground to be covered. Firstly we need to keep possession, look at the damage Spain does, when they maintain the ball and do pass the ball anyhow,who knew a game of football could be won with a game of ‘Chusha’, they again work on the counter.On Saturday we gave the ball away carelessly when trying to play long ball is that part of the Zambian game?The Algerians where clearly taller.We can also learn from South Africa who are now looking formidable.few years ago they were a walkover to us but now i not so sure. They attack using the flanks, with their back overlapping the wingers to deliver telling crosses.I’m sure Musonda would be comfortable with this, i saw him do it in the first half, for me he was one of the more consistent players of the day. Renard needs to return Chris to his proper position, the hit man, he clearly has no real impact playing where he is…Zambia also lack creative spark.. we need some one like Modise ,Xavi,Ineista,or even better Riquelme, some one to pull strings, create space and give telling through balls ,some one to dictate the game slow it down or speed it up.This is a huge responsibility and may take time and molding, in our case it could be shared by two people. I would recommend someone like Felix,Kalaba or even better Fwayo, who is young and can easily be molded as he already posses trickery and guile. Our problem here may be where to put our Players to play them at their strengths
@Justice Kafusha
Iam also for the idea that more,experienced players are given a chance for us to come up with a formidable team. Let fox call as many players as possible-Sinkala, Chansa, Clifford, Mbesuma, Mudenda etc. We need a formidable and experienced side to pause any threat in Algiers. But if he instists on using the same players he used last Saturday then i can forsee trouble.
Furthermore, the coach should learn to leave experienced players on the pitch for 90 minutes. Why substitute Chris Katongo, a man capable of coming up with a goal or continue fighting hard even when things are not going our way and leave inexperienced Singu to play 90 minutes.He should be able to pin point the players who are capable of coming up with a goal even when everybody has lost hope-Kalaba, Katongo, Mbesuma and a few others fall in this cartegory and thus he should be leaving them to contribute 90 minutes even when their perfomance is not as good from the start. Substituting experienced individuals demoralises the inexperienced ones who easily give up the fight. This is my opinion-what do you think?
@Seen from afar
When I talk of standards Am talking of expectations, I wasn’t implying that the team is not capable of qualifying. What I meant to say is that people are still shocked that Algeria won. People are still trying to find players to blame for the game. We are acting as if We were the favorites in the group. Just appreciate what the lads have done so far, We can still make it. Egypt is under pressure now because they were the favorites but they are at the bottom of the table. I don’t even know why there’s so much pressure coming from our fans. That’s what I mean seen, people wont move on. Its only right that the players themselves set the standards high, that’s the only way we can win matches.
It is because after the game in Chilies Zambia were supposed to have 7 points and not 4, simple as that. Algeria have 7 points and we have to play them at their home. HR is on holiday and I hope he does not come back
will rally behind u guys
We are behind the team. The team needs time to mature.
All Zambian dream a lot, you played at home, and your team did their best, we ‘ll show you how we play foot at home, it ’s ll be a diffirent, we ‘ll give you a lessons of foot and beat you again with biger socer 4-0.
Because you have no good players in europen chompionship, you’re speaking about our players.
Everything seems to favour as. Two home games against your young and no exprimented team(and trainer) and Rwanda, and an away to Cairo. The problem is Zambia may even struggle in Rwanda.
By By Zambia We beat you again, and at that time you ‘ll understand that we have better team than yours
@Gametime12
Point taken, cheers Gametime12.
Hallo, mein Name ist Fabian Bornscheuer.
Ich bin 18 Jahre alt und komme aus der Umgebung Frankfurt/Main.
Eigentlich wollte ich nur mal fragen ob ihr gute Schwulenpuffs in meiner Umgebung kennt und was ihr für Erfahrungen mit denen gemacht habt. Wäre schön wenn ihr eure Meinungen posten könnt.