Friday, February 7, 2025

Blog: Charity Shield ZamFOOT XI

On Saturday, Nkoloma Stadium hosted a double header of the season curtain raiser with Green Buffaloes edging out out Zanaco while Joshua Titima saved two penalties from Zesco United players to propel Power Dynamos to the final. 

The ZamFOOT Crew were at Nkoloma Stadium and this how the 2016 Charity Shield semi finals looks like.

Goalkeeper: Davy Kaumbwa – Green Buffaloes: Buffaloes were under siege in the second half from the bankers but Kaumbwa dealt with whatever Seith Sakala, Davy Daka and Charles Zulu threw at him. He dealt well aerial balls and didn’t panic.

Save for the penalties heroics, Titima was jitterly in the whole 90 minutes and should have saved Idriss Mbombo’s goal. So Kaumbwa edges out Titima.

Right Full Back: Malan Gondwe – Green Buffaloes: The man known for his long throw-in gets the nod ahead of Govender Simwala who also had a fair game. Zanaco played Aaron Katebe at right back while Zesco had Dauti Musekwa.

The quartet should improve on delivering deadly crosses when they overlap. They all didn’t really provide proper width for their respective teams.

Left Full Back: Fackson Kapumbu – Zanaco: Easy choice as he was miles ahead better than his competitors. Stephen Kabamba had an average game while Zesco United’s Alo Oluwafemi looked like a Division 1 player. Lawrence Chungu didn’t really cut it.

The Chawama boy, Kapumbu was simply superb both defensively and attack wise. Possible Chipolopolo call up this year.

Central Defence: David ‘Calabar’ Owino (Zesco Utd) & Adrian Chama (Green Buffaloes): Power Dynamos’ Francis ‘Mr Reliable’ Kasonde didn’t really comfortable in the opening minutes but grew as the game went on.

Owino, was awesome to watch especially in the first half. Comfortable on the ball and that occasional tackle really showed his class and maybe he deserves to play in better league. But aerial battles are not his strongest attributes.

Chama goes on about doing his work quietly and showed his calmness as Buffaloes defenders survived wave after wave of attack from Zanaco.

Central Midfielders: Benson Sakala, Emmanuel Chimpinde & Larry Bwalya (All Power Dynamos) – Tricky choice but this shows that there’s lack of proper midfielders in the country. Most of them are to defensive.

Emmanuel Chimpinde came off the bench and played for 15 minutes, and he brought steel and energy to the engine room. He tackled and surged forward to join in attack. He simply brought life to the Dinamo midfield.

Zesco United’s foreign import Anthony Akum Agay sat too deep and was too cautious while Isaac Chansa didn’t come to the party. In terms of influence on the game, Chimpinde did. A lot was expected from Buffaloes’ Felony Sitonyi but was lost when he came on.

ZamFoot XI: Gone for a diamond as all the 4 teams played narrow.
ZamFoot XI: Gone for a diamond as all the 4 teams played narrow.

Larry Bwalya – He showed flashes and was more of the effective player from those who started in the hole. Mwape ‘Tozizi’ Mwelwa didn’t really stamp his authority on the game.  Sebastian Mwansa was poor, he had no final pass and at some point it was disappointing to see Buffaloes failing to execute the counter attacks properly. No Basics!

Strikers:Conlyde Luchanga (Power Dynamos), Idris Ilunga Mbombo (Zesco Utd) & Chris Katongo (Green Buffaloes)

All the players who played on the flanks were awful!!! Charles Zulu, Augustine Mulenga, Rodrick Kabwe, Julius Situmbeko, Patson Daka, Clatus Chota ‘Tripple C’ Chama Jnr…the list goes on!

Where is the width????? The wingers are failing to provide crosses while the full backs can’t overlap!

That Boy Luchanga’ – He is work in progress and again though he didn’t really have a great game, he showed composure to beat Jacob Banda from close range. Is he the next Emmanuel Mayuka or Benni McCarthy?

He showed intelligence but he needs to bulk a bit. Can he earn the title of famous title of ‘Zambia’s symbol of present and future’.  Lets see how the season pans out.

Mbombo off the mark – Strikers are judged on how many goals they score and the Congolese will happy that Titima gifted him the goal after he wasted a better chance in the first half.

Captain marvel let down by teammates – On a scouting mission, sometimes it’s important to watch a player’s movement off the ball and Chris Katongo did it better than most of the over 50 players which featured at Nkoloma Stadium on Saturday.

Most Valuable Player: Benson ‘The General’ Sakala – The man the ndeke faithful are calling the ‘Americano’ after his stint in the United States was the enforcer and bulldozer at Nkoloma Stadium. He kept it simple and tidy, wasn’t afraid to go in with a tackle whenever necessary.

‘The General’ is arguably Power 90’s important player.

Richard ‘Djemba’ Kasonde (Zanaco), Jackson Chirwa (Buffaloes) and Misheck Chaila (Zesco) featured for their respective teams in the holding role but Benson was a cut above.

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Which Players impressed you at Nkoloma Stadium and what would be your ZamFOOT XI? Have Your Say

 

 

 

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6 Comments

  1. I din’t know which games ba Zamfoot were watching! The ZESCO midfield was far superior than any of the teams on Saturday. The Power equaliser was not even a pass from their midfielders but just an intercept which Luchanga cooly scored.

    What a useless analysis of the game! I watched both matches as a neutral and most of this analysis is not true!

    • Wasp, there is ZESCO written all over you. If you say Power’s goal was just an interception, won’t you also say that ZESCO’s goal was just a goal keeping error.
      But how many interceptions did not result in goals, and how many shots at goal did not result in goal keeper error?
      Credit I give bcoz it is due, to who, Idriss and Luchanga for scoring and great analysis to the writer, good idea infact, keep it up.

      • Chisanga, I’m certainly not a ZESCO supporter! Apart from Benson Sakala,who I think played well, Larry and Chimpinde came nowhere close to Misheck Chaila and the other Kenyan midfielder. They were completely outplayed until the last 15 minutes when Lwandamina brought on Chingandu and Silwimba. So unless Zamfoots analysis was based on the dying minutes of the game, then so be it.

        I support Konkola Blades, by the way.

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