The Indomitable Lions of Cameroun on Sunday held Algeria to a 1 – 1 draw in a group B 2018 Russia World Cup qualifier match played at Stade Mustapha Tchaker in El Bouleïda.
With the other result in the group already known which saw Nigeria pick maximum points in Ndola, the Algerians started well and went ahead as early as the 7th minute through Arbi Soudani.
The Camerounians did not sit back after conceding and they pulled one back in the 24th minute through Benjamin Moukandjo of Lorient.
Despite the relentless pressure from the hosts, the visitors held on to pick a vital away point against the highest ranked team in the group.
With the result, Nigeria are now firmly in control of group B after they won 2 – 1 away from home.
Zambia are currently bottom of the group without a point.
we are still in the race for W.C RUSSIA qualification, Wadda we are sure behind you and the chipoloplo#ladiesfirst
I just don’t know why Fwayo Tembo who provided balls in the box was substituted. Losing at home is a huge mistake and here we go again. Back to the drawing board and prepare for Qatar 2022?
Look at the Nigerian players in the above picture. What I see is Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal. We are not on their level at all, but good fight from the Zambian team. Better luck next time if we could fix the mid and defense. With reliable Mbesuma getting old, we are pretty much f**cked!.
We lost to a formidable Nigerian team…reminiscent of the days on Kanu, Jay-Jay, Sunday Oliseh….Amokachi, Amunike….Let’s be realistic about our chances when we face such quality and purposeful opposition! In terms of coaching I think Wadda is showing great potential….it’s the best Zambian team I’ve seen in a couple of years.
Am so impress of your knowledge about Naija players in the likes of Kanu, Jay Jay and the rest.
Bravo Sir.
We could have performed better if WADA was engaged earlier. If possible, between now and the next qualifier FAZ should organise a good friendly match with formidable opponents
no doubts gents wada is oky we nid friendlies faz twapapata,bring bak nkausu sunzu has no partner kalengo 2 b benched
I said it that kalengo is off form. Chamanga is scoring goals therefore can partner Mbesuma upfront
Loool. TCSOCCERMAN. please shut up already. Seems you’ve forgotten how you were bragging you will beat us. Loooool.
We’ve destroyed the Ndola record.looool.
Algeria is next. We will slaughter them next month. Hopefully victor moses,Isaac success and Leon balogun will be fit then.
Up super eagles.
Indeed Naija silent the whole nation, I could picture their president so confused, all we ask the Zambians now is to try and draw Cameroon in Limbe on the 7th Nov.
Up Super Eagles! Up Naija !! Up Africa
When are we gonna be serious with our preps, most of the leagues in europe and else where are on recess becoz of world cup qualifiers, we could have used this period to organise one high profile friendlies with one of the teams in the world cup qualifiers, bt alas, it is the usual story. Our friends are busy with friendlies; TONIGHT SOUTHAFRICA TAKES ON THE MIGHTY BLACK STARS OF GHANA, for FAZ and players its time for french leave.
It’s too early to conclude anything at this stage
I did indicate here that engaging ourselves in the qualifiers with this current FAZ administration is a share waste of time. The guys are clueless. Under kalu we could have beaten Nigeria by so many goals.
I think the coach was slow in reading the game. adrian chama was a suspect in the first 5 minutes if i was a coach i would have taken him off not waiting for what he did in the end. Mtonga and Sunzu partnered well and the deffence became stable.
Some Zambians behave like a bunch of morons. How many years have I come on this site to beg for Fwayo’s inclusion and be insulted. Today Fwayo is your best player. You morons!!!
@ John, I sometimes mistake this site as one for gentlemen, where civility applies ! why not state your point ?
Lol. Thank you Pungwa. As for John, yes Fwayo had a great game against Nigeria and no one here is unhappy about that. I for one have no been a proponent of Fwayo in the national team because of his club issues, but I was greatly impressed with his play in the National team. If anything, I think he was my man of the match for Zambia.
Really….did this dude just rock up on this blog and call us morons???
@Big Steve…lol. Yes he did, but are you honestly surprised? I’ld rather focus on the game of football than enter into Donald Trump territory.
DAAAMN IT ||
HAHHAAAA-HAAA I COULDNT STOP LAUGHING WHEN I HEARD OF DONALD ( DOG ) TRUMP IN THE PICTURE.-JOHN WHY ARE U DISSING THE FOLOWERS OF THE CHIPOS ? HAHAAAAA WAHAAAHAHA
@ Wesu Nandibo, even with Mourinho and Guardiola combined as coach of the Chipos, we would have beaten Zambia in Ndola.
Your players are so immature, maybe with time your football will improve.
As e dey hot,na so wi go dey cari am dey go wait foh Una foh reton leg foh dey Nest of Champion in Akwa Ibom State, wia dey gbege go shele. Zambia go chop enof kondo.
IWE Abuja, thats a lie, the only problem with Kamanga led executive is that their agenda was only to remove Great Kalu from the football house. The Chaps have got no crue under whatsoever. Just look at the KAPPA Jersey itself, My God!
Wadda got this game wrong from the onset. Sinkala being isolated in midfield is not something you can continue to do.
Our defense let us down badly. Sunzu isn’t what he used to be…and it affected Sinkala’s contribution in the game. Kalaba, barring being selfish on a couple of occasions, was the most threatening going forward…Fwayo had a great game but in my mind he under-performed probably because of his lack of match fitness. The team is aging as well…more than 5 of those playing are 30 or more (chronological age not Fifa age) .
The game was lost in midfield and defense. The midfield was completely overrun. Sinkala is no longer the player he used to be. Misheck Chaila should have partnered Sinkala in midfield in place of Chisamba. I now understand why Chicken used to bench Chisamba.
The team played well in the second half. We only need sharp strikers upfront and quality defenders to replace Adrian and even Sunzu. Nigeria can fall on their soil just just like they beat us here. Nothing is imposible in football!!!
Here’s the deal: Wadda needs to giveup one of his attackers for a box to box midfielder. Sinkala cannot cope in the midfield by himself, especially against a counter attacking team like Algeria.
Kalengo needs to make way for a midfielder. I would hope the Munthali can be brought back in the fold as a center back and then Mtonga can be moved into the midfield with Sinkala. Kalaba, Fwayo and Chisamba can then operate wide and higher behind Mbesuma.
So here’s what I see:
Mbesuma
Kalaba Chisamba. L Fwayo
Sinkala Mtonga
Kampumbu Chongo???
Sunzu Munthali
Mweene
I agree with you.
—————————Mbesuma—————————–
Kalaba———————Chisamba———————–Fwayo
—————Sinkala—————Mtonga———————–
-Kampumbu———————————————-Chongo??
————–Sunzu—————-Munthali——————————
————————Mweene—————————————–
@ positive thinking, I would take a risk and bench Mtonga to include Cletus Chama, that way we would have more mobile midfield. The boy can dribble ( just like Fwayo ), he also packs a serious shot from outside the 18 – and accurate for that matter. He can also defend. I would have first benched Chisamba but I don’t want issues of tax payers money bla bla bla. What Cletus needs is one or two friendly internationals just to gain confidence at that level. He does tend to freeze when featured.
Pungwa, I have to admit that I have never watched Cletus play. From what I have seen, he seems to be a very good attacker and dribbler which is why I would shy away from playing him in that midfield. He may be too attack minded to partner Sinkala, but you are absolutely on the right track as far as friendlies. Sending a new coach directly into the fire without any friendlies is not setting Zambia up for success. There are no easy teams in this group. The best Zambia has to show up for every game.
The line-up by Positive Thinking is the one I can go for. We need two strong midfielders in Sinkala and Mtonga. Munthali should be brought back to partner Sunzu. Adrian Chama likula. Sunzu is more effective when you partner him with Mtonga or Munthali.
Billy. I know Chama has had a good game or two and perhaps its a matter of him settling into the position, but I don’t know why Munthali has been overlooked. The man has always performed well for the national team.
—————————Mbesuma—————————–
Kalaba———————katongo———————–Fwayo
—————Sinkala—————Mtonga———————–
-Kampumbu———————————————-nkhasu
————–Sunzu—————-Munthali——————————
————————Mweene—————————————–
Boss, which Katongo is that one ? awe lets move on .
Ba Katongo balipwa naimwe. Both Katongos for that matter. Let these two retire in peace please. The line-up by Positive Thinking is the one I can go for. We need two strong midfielders in Sinkala and Mtonga. Munthali should be brought back to partner Sunzu.
But ine ndefwaya mobility pa midfield, someone who can hold the ball, run around with it and pick out best positioned offensive players. He should also be able to shoot from afar, in the mould of Isaac Chansa, Charles Musonda, Frank lampaard that type. Hence my point, lets fast track Cletus into such big gameas. there is no time for the COSAFA, CECAFA route as philosophised by Chris Katongo.
I’m looking at Positive thinking and dilaver lineups and it has again dawned on me, when was the last time we had a solid right back in the national team. Both Nkausu and Chongo and are good at the back but are not the most effective when it comes to overlapping. It seems the complete effective cross into the box from overlapping right and left backs is eluding us these days. Even at left back I don’t remember anyone effectively doing this since the Mbola prodigy era. I’m beginning to think this is not a focus area in training because even when you watch ZPL games it is the same thing.
Ba Big Steve mwalasa. We have not had good fullbacks in the national team in a very long time. The Mbola prodigy era was the last time we had a fullback we thought we could count on. The Chisamba experiment also didn’t turn out too well because of his tendency to dribble too much.
Though I will argue that we have never had a real crosser of the ball from the fullback position. This is because Zambia has not played that kind of football. Guys like Sichikolo though attack minded didn’t provide too many crosses, and even the heroes like John Soko were defensive minded players. We have not adjusted with the times. This last game against Nigeria, the positive is that the fullbacks held their own defensively. This may also be because Nigeria attacked through the middle, the real test will be against Algeria and Cameroon. With Mahrez or guys like Moukanjdo working the wings; guys like Chongo and Kampumbu will be tested by fire.
Laughter Chilembi had a decent cross. him and Manasseh Mwanza were the last pair of safe fullbacks in our team. Mbola although good going forward, he is not good at recovering after losing the ball and he is also fond of killer mistakes – those where opposition goals come as a result. I always hold my breath ( just as I do with kabaso ) when he is on the ball.
@Pungwa, yes. I was just thinking about that and remembered Laughter Chilembi as one of the only attacking fullbacks I have seen in the Zambia jersey. His downfall was the gift of a goal he gave to Diouf during that World Cup qualifier against Senegal in Copperbelt.
Biggest thing for Wadda is to try and find an identity for his team. Zambia has been lost these past couple of years in terms of how we play or how the team approaches games. Against Nigeria; for a while there…Zambia was playing with an impetuous and swagger and attacking verve, then somewhere along the way (specifically after Kola came on) Zambia switched to playing long balls. If Zambia could have played the whole game the same way they did from 50th minute to 78th minute, they would have won that game. If wadda can harness those 30 minutes and make that the 90 minute Zambia, I can tell you that we can start booking tickets to Russia.
The long ball system is so dependent on the center forward and not all center forwards have the skill set to receive a high ball and immediately turn it into attack. To be honest I cant remember a center forward in the modern era who can effectively do this. Mbesuma is deadly but needs that ground ball passed to him not a high ball. Since Rotson Kilambe I cant remember a center forward with the skill set to immediately turn a high ball to attack. Our traditional way of playing the ground ball with intelligent passes works well for us. The long ball option should be a plan b when we are down and need to throw everything into the opponents box in the last 15 minutes of the game. It should not be the full game plan.
Jacob Mulenga, Milton Tembo ?
@Positive thinking “Zambia was playing with an impetuous and swagger and attacking verve” lol. the last time we played like this was under Poulsen – I miss his style of play – we didn’t win AFCON 96 but my word, your description above took me back to those years – hammering Egypt ( coming from behind ) during the tournament, our under 23 playing the four nations tournament against SA with Dennis Lota at peak yaa, I miss that style of play. I hope Wada takes us back there as that is our game played to our natural talent not ifyama tactics !no 8 aleteya 3, double pivot midfield ahhh !
We dont have players who has the skill to suit that. All we have now is chipante pante.
Pungwa. That was by far the most exciting Zambia team since the Gabon disaster, I might even dare say they were more exciting than those guys to watch. That 96 team was the standard. That was the first time Zambia was ever thought of as a favourite to win AFCON. Everyone was scared to play us.
That’s definitely the sort of team we want to see. Problem yaba Zambia is the players start to feel themselves after doing well.
By the way. One of the very best at holding up the ball upfield was Harry Milanzi. He was able to hold on to the ball and bring his teammates into attack. His attacking was a bit questionable, but as a holding striker he was phenomenal.
No AFCON, World cup qualifiers nayo ma embarrassments fye rubbish!The KAPPA Jersey nayo iyeee! when is the term for this guys coming to an end kanshi! I nid Kamanga to get out of football house before we are reduced to minnows
When it matters most, the hope of the people is dashed, that is exactly what happened in Ndola. Zambia is indeed the under dog in these group of former African Champions.
Certainly I believe Zambia will not lost any more game at home again to either Cameroon or Algeria, if that happens then the Ticket is meant for Naija, because we got am away win which is very important and crucial in our quest to Rusia 2018 world cup. Algeria and Cameroon in the group makes it more interesting to watch. Football pundit call the group, group of death but I call it group of champions.
—————————Mbesuma—————————–
Kalaba———————chamanga———————–Fwayo
—————Sinkala—————Mtonga———————–
-Kampumbu———————————————-nkhasu
————–Sunzu—————-Munthali——————————
————————Mweene—————————————–