The Zambia U20 men’s national football team defeated Tenerife B 1-0 in a practice match played at the Centro Insular de Atletismo de Tenerife on Tuesday.
The only goal of the match came in the 85th minute through second half substitute Mwape Mumba who netted five minutes after replacing Kenneth Kalunga. Enock Mwepu provided the assist.
Coach Beston Chambeshi selected his strongest starting eleven, making two changes to the team which defeated South Africa in the U-20 Cosafa Cup final on December 16.
Kenneth Kalunga and Joseph Phiri were named in the starting line-up in the absence of Fashion Sakala and Patson Daka.
Mangani Banda started in goal, guarded by a back four comprised of Solomon Sakala and Moses Nyondo in central defence while Prosper Chiluya and Shemmy Mayembe were at left back and right back respectively.
Midfield kingpin Boyd Musonda was partnered in central midfield by Enock Mwepu while Chrispin Sakulanda and Kalunga were deployed on the flanks.
Edward Chilufya was partnered in attack by Joseph Phiri.
“The game was fine, we are happy with the way the boys played. We still have to put in a lot of work because we missed a lot of good chances. But we are still preparing and we have to improve especially in defence; we don’t want any slip ups there,” said Chambeshi.
“Today’s opposition gave us a good run; it was not an easy team. We have learnt one or two things. In the next game we have to polish up in both attack and defence. We hope to score a lot of goals in our next practice match with Basel because the U-20 Afcon which we are preparing for is about scoring goals.
“We happy that even our substitutes changed the game resulting into a goal which is a sign that we are building a strong team,” he said.
Zambia senior national team coach Wedson Nyirenda also shared his views in a post match interview.
“I think we are getting better. It’s been about two months since the U20 Cosafa Cup final. We controlled the game from the first whistle and the boys showed good character. We missed a lot of chances but we are looking better,” said Nyirenda.
“We maintained the same starting line-up as the one we used in the Cosafa final because we need to have a base of the team. The team we used today is the base of the team.
“There are other good players who should be joining the squad later. We don’t have Patson, Fashion and Luchanga here. Today we saw Mwape Mumba, he came in and gave us the winner. He is gelling well with the rest of the team. This is a sign that we have a good foundation for the senior national team.”
Nyirenda advised the players to remain focused and keep their concentration in their next match scheduled for Thursday at 13h00 against FC Basel reserve team.
Zambia will also face Las Palmas and Real Madrid reserve sides on 4th and 6th February respectively.
Zambia U20 vs Tenerife B:
Mangani Banda, Shemmy Mayembe, Prosper Chiluya, Solomon Sakala, Moses Nyondo, Boyd Musonda, Kenneth Kalunga (Mwape Mumba), Enock Mwepu, Joseph Phiri (Harrison Chisala), Edward Chilufya, Crispin Sakulanda (Happy Nsofwa).
By Fazfootball
iyee guys whre r u blogers here we come zambia banya uno umuku 2007 to 2012 class is back d futur is built
well-done boys please keep working hard and be focused.
That is gud guys. I am sure we eilk beat Mali and Guinea
Keep your heads up boys…work even harder for the up coming games!
Thats great news , Go young lads go junior Chipolopolo , lets record all wins thats the way to go.
the future of chipolopolo z becoming whiter .
continue
Something is a bit wrong. Wada should not be giving interviews on under – 20. They fall, he falls harder. There are players who Wada should be focusing on such as Kalengo, Kalaba, Chisamba, Sunzu and untested local chaps who would chomp on a national team call up. Boring to do what was done to you and where not happy about. Lets be professional. when these chaps go to Europe they will need space before they start responding to national team call ups. The game requires all levels of national team functioning, clubs functioning, including social football.
Go CHIPOLOPOLO Go 2019 afcon here come
Why is the national team coach (senior) assessing the dvpt of U.20 players instead of finding out how Chisamba, Fwayo, Sinkala & Kalaba are doing in preparation of crunch world cup games yet to be played?
The development of the team requires a gradual transition from U.20 to U.23 then main team.
Go and find out what’s wrong with the following players:
å Mukuka Mulenga;
å Fwayo Tembo;
å Evans Kangwa;
å Clifford Mulenga.
Do not interfere with the U. 20 their coach is doing just fine. He didn’t need your help in Cosafa!
Sigh!
Well done boys let’s do this…..
We do indeed have a good team. for this outing, it is the confidence boost this will give the boys that we need seriously.
Hope they keep their heads on their shoulders and graduate into U23 and into the real Copper whatsaname?
Keep it up.
My preference is the Technical bench should rotate these players to get all of them prepared . In a tournament , there might come injuries ,suspensions etc , and you cant really have preference .
@ O’nzuna you are right
@Bsimms…..For yo info Nyirrenda was at Cosafa, part of technical bench. OK?
@ Slim noted with thanks for your correction. However, why is it that the senior players are seemingly neglected? The world cup qualification must be priority for Mr. Nyirenda. He should ensure our boys are ready for return games. Cameroon (example) had a fairly good ran in Gabon & we were absent
Most bloggers here don’t seem to follow Zambian football. Coach Wedson NYIRENDA was appointed as Technical Advisor for all junior teams by FAZ. He has to inculcate Senior team philosophy in the young blads so that as they graduate to the senior national team, they will have already adapted. I was privileged to watch the boys do the last training at sunset just before departure for Spain. Wesson was up in the terraces and not on the bench. It was Bolton MUSONDA and Chambeshi who were drilling them. Wada just came at last to give pep talk and speak his observations. It is important that the senior National team coach is attached to the junior teams.
@ Martinez as a blogger I appreciate your contribution. Cheers
Chipolopolo young stars
Young lads we are