Wednesday, February 12, 2025

Chipolopolo only manage a draw in Niger

 

The Zambia’s poor record away from home in the qualifiers continued as they were held 0 – 0 away from by Niger.

Zambia went in the match knowing they needed an outright win but they failed to convert the chances that came their way and would have to count themselves lucky after a deflected free kick inched centimeters away with Kennedy Mweene diving the wrong way.

Niger started the better side and their pressure almost paid off in the 5th minute when a miscued cross almost found its way into the net for the Mweene to draw his first save.

Zambia then picked themselves up with Rainford Kalaba and Charles Zulu both sending in crosses into the area which went begging.

The best chance for Zambia in the first half fell to James Chamanga who eluded his mark to head a pin point Chisamba Lungu cross but his free header went wide in the 15th minute.

Niger however created an even better chance in the 20th minute when Christopher Munthali at full pace to cover Emmanuel Mbola in the left back position was beaten clean for Niger winger Musa to lay a ball for his striker on the edge of the 6 yard box but he shot over the bar.

Zambia continued to enjoy possession in the half but remained blunt going forward.

After the restart, Niger came into the game with guns blazing and they pressed Zambia but the defence led by Nyambe Mulenga remained resolute. Nyambe put in some brilliant last ditch tackles a couple of times to save Zambia.

In the 55th minute, Kalaba spotted Singuluma’s run into the box and laid the ball in his path but his effort came off the upright as he drove his short across the face of goal for what stood to be the closest to a goal the game would see.

While Niger had half hearted appeals for penalties, Zambia were denied what clearly looked like a penalty in the 77th minute when Singuluma paced his way into the box only to be brought down by the chasing defender.

Even the introduction of veterans Emmanuel Mayuka, Jacob Mulenga and Chris Katongo for Charles Zulu, Chamanga and Chisamba Lungu yielded no significant shot on target for the match to end 0 – 0.

The draw leaves Zambia in 3rd position while Mozambique who beat group leaders Cape Verde 2 – 0  remain in second position but move to 5 points.

Zambia will play Niger on Wednesday at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium. The match kicks off at 18:00hrs.

Niger v Zambia XI: 16 Kennedy Mweene 2 Kabaso Chongo 18. Emmanuel Mbola 4. Christopher Munthali 5.Nyambe Mulenga 6.Nathan Sinkala (Captain) 10. Charles Zulu (Emmanuel Mayuka) 3. Chisamba Lungu (Christopher Katongo) 12.James Chamanga (Jacob Mulenga) 15. Given Singuluma 17 . Rainford Kalaba.

 

Related Articles

96 Comments

  1. we don’t have to be rocket scientists to tell that Janza is not a good enuf do we…… ???…..anyway we are zambians we are used to this!

    • If am given a chance to choose who to remain btn Kalu and Honor Janza, i would say Kalu should go, Am really upset, i cant smile anymore, if i was in the stadium for sure he wil notice me, Am doubting his competance.He should go, resign Kalu for your own goodnss, people’s anger increasing each day.

  2. Cape verd and Mozambique now have 6 and 5 pionts respectively. If they can draw in their return match on Wednsday, then they are the sure qualifiers from this group.
    We need to overhail the whole national team as South africa did, for the sake of AFCON 2017. forget about 2015.
    Am very disappointed, indeed!!.

  3. Lets keep the comments moderate … Zambia would have have also scored had the ball not deflected from the post … too much talk and unnecessary statements are just ‘noisy’ … come Wed some will be converted but whatever happens … Zambia can’t be the worst … we have a great chance to qualify … cool a bit … but whether we qualify or not .. that is why it is called football … it can even deflect into your own net from your foot … viva Zambia and Shalom

    • Let’s face reality baba. We have nil striking force coupled with a fat goalkeeper. I didn’t know Mayuka has grown that fat – no wonder ama bench ku Saints.

  4. That’s what you get ba Faz problem is tumumfwa you like to choose coaches kwati muleshita chibwabwa ku market. Now please do us a favour by firing Janza.

  5. That was a disgusting performance. Janza is just so hopeless. Can somebody remind us, what his coaching history is like. Apart from teaching other coaches in administration

  6. Let’s let other serious teams qualify. Our team is useless and full of failures. We don’t diserve to play in morroco..

  7. All the games janza has been in charge of the chipolopolo has been all experiments…. Even patrick phiri would have done a better job than him………

  8. Truth be told.We don’t deserve to qualify to 2015 Africa cup.The rest of the qua lifers should be given to U23 team to complete as they prepare for all Africa and Olympic qualifiers in the process building a new team with a new coach not the clueless coaches We have seen.

  9. Facts are not since 2012 Afcon have we found a consistent, dependable way of attacking the oppositions half. Absolutely nothing! If Isaac Chansa and C. Katongo are not there then no goals. For this game Collins would have been a better choice than Givens. The pace of the game was slow, Niger were naive in their own half, Collins would have profited! Kalaba was able to exploit their nativity but he couldn’t do it alone!

  10. Substitutions came at a very wrong time! Surely janza cannot read the game, he was supposed to remove chamanga much earlier. Looking at his a age chamanga can be effective for 45 minutes only and inexperienced zulu was supposed to last 45 mins only!

  11. Substitutions came at a very wrong time! Surely janza cannot read the game, he was supposed to remove chamanga much earlier. Looking at his a age chamanga can be effective for 45 minutes only and inexperienced zulu was supposed to last 45 mins only

  12. Relying on old legs dont talk of ck, collins, jacob, chamanga, . . thats y we are at this level. We need a complete new team. The one that played Sudan minus sakuwaha. 2017 not 2015.

    • A coach must play players with the opposition in mind. The bad positioning of the Nigerians would have lent itself to the positioning of a C Katongo, Collins, Mayuka etc. All they would need is good feed throughs! Good coaches get the balance right eg Paulo Rossi ’82, Roger Milla ’90, Maldini, Bersai, Totti…. The pace of the game and the wide gaps in their defense required cool heads!

  13. Janza is incredibly hopeless…..We shall regret letting go of Patrice. ….. How can we fail to beat hopeless Niger. …useless useless performance…how do u play 35 year old Chamanga for more than 45 minutes??…

  14. I rarely castigate at the coach but today I am in the forefront. This Janza guy must labd in Namwala I shouldnt see him anywhere near the bench again!

  15. I am so upset…so many misplaced passes…These fools need to wake up….Chris should have come on much earlier…Chris brings leadership on the pitch….I have concluded that a black man is incapable of motivating Zambia….We need an expatriate coach asap. …malabish

  16. Evidently we have seen enough of Janza, ba faz save yourselves further embarrassment by firing janza. The problem is you don’t know how to conduct a proper coach selecting process based on merit imwe lyonse mu sala kwati mule shita chibwabwa ku maliketi. Poseniko amano

  17. What zambia need first are strikers, if we can strikers than can score we’ll be safe. We also need a talented manager be Zambian foreigner, honnor can’t take the team anywhere..Faz must be serious they engage in coaches, we happy the they running matters

  18. We should not expect anything from this team as long as we keep playing the so called veterans and have a coach who can not read a game. This team’s performance started going down immediately after AFCON 2012.

  19. I only counted two shots on goal for Zambia
    yet how many saves Mweene had to make. The problem is that of leadership from the bench. Janza has no game plan. I think we are in trouble. if we don’t react now tomorrow we’ll be watching even afcon 2017 on TV.

  20. I have been vindicated once again like always. We can never qualify with that useless and stupid Janza. We are doomed. He must resign or face the humiliation of getting fired.#PATHETIC!

  21. Honour Janza is one of the most HOPELESS coaches that we have ever had in 50 years. He can’t read a game. His team selection of pathetic. He is useless!

  22. Awe ba Janza kuwayawaya fye,honestly Chamanga wasn’t part of the team that played cape verde and mozambique yet he walks straight into the starting eleven.Chamanga was supposed to be substituted after 45 minutes.Pliz ba Janza muposeko amano this is a Jubilee year for Zambia and if there was a time when we shouldnt miss Afcon its the one comin in Morroco

  23. We shouldn’t discard off katongo so fast just becoz that’s wht the majority are saying! He brings stability to the team each time he plays and this janza knows but he left him out until the last 5 minutes all becoz he is fearing people! He is a coward and we don’t need a coward! We a coach who will make decisions based on wht he sees and not wht fans say!

  24. We shouldn’t discard off katongo so fast just becoz that’s wht the majority are saying! He brings stability to the team each time he plays and this janza knows but he left him out until the last 5 minutes all becoz he is fearing people! He is a coward and we don’t need a coward! We a coach who will make decisions based on wht he sees and not wht fans say

  25. Both the coach and the players knew what was at stake in days game. It was a must win game. The coach has been exposed as he failed to read the game. It was also evident that our coach showed that he was following the game as a fan. Substitutions came too late.
    Above all the team lacks motivation from coach. He has lost it.

  26. I personally dont blame the team and the coach for their failure but i will blame every citizen,taxpayer and largely blame the media for failing to question the FA on their criteria of selecting coaches,failing to question the coach on his criteria of selecting players and failing to question the team on their level of patrotism for the country.It is wrong to criticize the problem without finding the cause.What i am begining to believe is that AUTOCRATIC rule operate unknownly in zambia AND THE MEDIA FAILS TO RECOGNIZE THEIR POWER AND FUNCTION.Akwasi appiah was dismissed by the media and stakeholders in Ghana.You the citizen have power than the FA and they must be forced to go by public interest rather than their own interest.The problem in zambia football started after winning the afcon..LOOK AT WHERE YOU FELL AND RISE RATHER THAN HATING GHANA.I KNOW THAT ZAMBIANS WERE PRAYING FOR GHANA TO BE HUMILIATED IN THE WC MEANWHILE GHANA IS GHANA..WE ARE NOT GOOD BUT OUR PERMANENT CLASS WILL BEAT ANY UNDERDOG.

    • Well said sir. The selection process for the new coach is being done in a vacuum. Soon you will hear that Lebolm is the new coach and we’ll all just agree because he is white. If Janza had been chosen through a process and merit, losses or draws Luke this would be acceptable provided he gave us his vision. Clear failure in leadership all around. Ah well, it’s just a game. You live to play another day.

  27. So painful and annoying.If we played South Africa today we would be embarrassed.The insistence on aging players at the expense of hungry players like Evans Kangwa,Lubambo Musonda, Jackson Mwanza and Sate Sate really beats my mind.

  28. The goal that Sudan scored is the way Givens shud be scoring. Givens is very good at position for headers during play but not necessarily from set play. Zambia doesnt score goals like South Africa or Sudan hence our problems! But be surprised if Nigeria go another goal down, Sudan have the danger man who is goin under the raider!

  29. We just need a whole new team, forget about these so called veterans. S.A. is doing fine after discarding their veterans, so is Cameroon. So what new things do we expect from these madalas. Evans Kangwa, Sate Sate, Moses Phiri and other young good players are there at the couches disposal. But, this couch also! We have an instructor as a couch and we bring another instructor as an assistant. Educate me fellow supporters on the logic here

  30. Janza wont take as anywhere. If dis performance is anything to go by, then we should just let cape verde and Mozambique qualify because we shall be humiliated if we happen to qualify by chance. Our coach is just useless and he cant read the game.

  31. The coach is very useless it doesn’t matter how many useless goals chamanga scores in china. Chamanga is finished he was never a great player for that matter. Mayuka is the one Zambia must build the attack around at 23 he is the future the coach is clueless. Jacob, collins, chamanga are all tired legs. Mayuka, Kampamba and evans kangwa are the players who are supposed to play not those finished tired old men. The coach is taking us nowhere. Mozambique is now a favorite to qualify.

  32. So much for the Nigerians calling Zambia post 2012 fluke champions and all other names! Nigeria will draw their next game and blame it all on Keshi!

  33. Thats my man Nyambe Mulenga! Bad result but it was expected…

    I said to some wailers they should be worried whether Zambia qualifies or not when PB left. They showed me a youtube video of Fwayo and said dont worry, the same people who say any coach could have won afcon 12. Anyway, wailers kekeke, the blind following the blind.

    As for Zambias chances. Not much hope im afraid, things are bad and Faz has no idea and ministry of sport has no idea either. I feel sorry for the players.

  34. Ghana super cheats? When did they cheat you…You Zambians are just too funny…When you can’t beat Sudan, Lesetho etc, you are not good enough to qualify for the WC…WC qualify is tricky and the way to do it is to whip the small boys home and away..You dont use all your energy beating big teams and lossing to small boys…You need consistency to be a great side not fluke and beating big teams once in a while.I always knew Ghana was going to qualify ahead of you guys when even you were leading them in the group…They have done it and done it many times…They just good at qualifying for the WC.

  35. @ Seen from afar you are pathetic what is so special about patrice? The boy would have failed. Zambia will still qualify for afcon Mozambique is a very inconsistent nation they can even lose all 3 of their remaining games. FAZ is to blame for bringing these losers to coach zambia. Look at the people shortlisted to coach Ghana.

  36. Janza is useless, he goes to what people say on Katongo, Fuck off Janza, what do you tell your players? You left out Jacob Mulenga,Mayuka,Katongo and Lubambo Musonda in action .game is the first 65′ go to hell Janza!

  37. Mozambique and Cape verde will qualify for morroco 2015 based on the reason that mozambique will beat Niger and so will cape verde. Zambia will draw in Mozambique, but will beat Niger and cape verde at home so will have 8 points. Cape verde and Mozambique will draw in cape verde. The table will be like this: cape verde 10points, Mozambique 10points, Zambia 8points and Niger 2 points. Janza should be retired in National interest.

  38. The problem with zambia is depending on old legs, even if Zambia were to assemble a new team they would still struggle to beat the likes of Lesotho, Malawi etc because most of your youngsters lack international experience.

    • I concur with you. This chima new ORANGE jersey seem to be full of “minyama” (bad luck). What happened to our copper color for the national team jersey? Even the 2012 AFCON winning jersey should have been maintained mwebantu pliz.

  39. Seen from afar, what are you talking about?? I am one of those people who said any one would have won us the Afcon in 2012. It was just our time.It was destiny. It was written in the stars. The team is lacking the fire power to kill off teams like they used to. Corrupt Kalusha Bwalya and his entire FAZ executive together with the useless and stupid Honour Janza should resign.#PATHETIC!

  40. That draw was Lebolm first game as new manager. He has started on a positive result with a draw & come Wednesday Zambia is getting another draw

  41. We have given FAZ full powers to make all the blunders and fail to question them. Some of had our comments quickly deleted by the owners of the blog for criticizing FAZ. We told FAZ to replace novice coaches with seasoned coaches but the know-it-all guys could not listen. I lost hope for the first time before the first qualifying game for Morocco was even played.
    Surely there must be a policy and guidelines on the recruitment of a coach. What we are seeing now is just one chap flying out, alone, and come back with another novice who has mainly been coaching at academy level. We should not beat about the bush. The problem is that FAZ feels it is bigger than all the other stakeholders and can do wrong things with impunity without fear. In their continued arrogance, they have now fallen into their own grave by failing to qualify for Morocco 2015 which will make us vote the entire Excom out come 2016.
    Forget about Morocco ladies and gentlemen. Cabo Verde will beat Niger and even Mozambique at home and the worst performance against an under-firing Zambia is a draw. That rules out the possibility of Zambia winning all the remaining games. Against Mozambique in Maputo, Mozambique will not allow Zambia to dislodge them from their hard fought second position. Mozambique must as well rewrite History by holding Zambia or even beating us. That will be two out of the remaking three games without collecting maximum points and that will leave us with the game with Niger. Niger will play a frustrating game against us. Like Zambia, they have little to play for but nothing to lose at all. With our current performance or is it lack of performance, this game can go either way but whichever way it goes, that will be inconsequential.
    Someone is saying we could have won if the ball had not hit the post (Lol). We are not using a different football pitch. Those wo are winning, e,g. South Africa, etc also play on pitches where there are goal posts but are careful to make sure the ball completely cross the goal line between the two goal posts and below the cross bar because that is the way goals are scored else you can hit either the cross bar or goal posts as many times as you wish but that will not count.

  42. there is nothing strange about this team every thing as been clear from the start,when there is a very big problem in the house please solve it,dont let the arrival of a new babe make you 4get to solve the problem.what i mean is kalusha is the problem,if he was sacked before we had won the africa cup zambia would not be bottom of the table and winning the cup blinded a lot forgetting we had a wrong adminstration,please tell me what creteria the adminstration has been using when it comes to picking of coaches and players ?i almost 4got its kalus way.were on earth did they get janza?how did the new white man end up on the bench? what is chamanga ,the stupid new boy very selfish and useless,jacob mulenga,mayuka ,singuluma and kalaba doing in the team,past glory wont win us anything,even mbesuma is better than the so called strikers that played yesterday,some advise to the coach get independence from kalu,develop a new creative medifielder eg mukuka mulenga and drop kalaba he is finished,play chisamba lungu on the left wing coz he is the only fast left footed player we have plus he has skill or bring back clifford and fwayo tembo on the right wing,i still think cris can support the two men upfront he still has some thing in him,tell nathan to pull up his game he was useless and invisible yesterday,upfront mbesuma and the young man from nkana,even other local players doing fine in our league than these useless proffessionals warming the bench at there respective clubs ,twapapata faz administration if you have some dignity left in you quit before we get mad,chipolopolo and madrid for life

  43. the selection of the team was wrong,why start with chamanga when Jacob is there and mayuka.why not give chance to kampamba and why put katongo on the bench .Even herve renard could have done better to read the game our coach and his assistant did not read the game, chamanga could have been removed in the first half he did not add value to the team.next time try to call lubambo and Evans kangwa those are the player we need not ba chamanga who could not add value to the team.if we are not careful we will not go the Africa cup next year. on the issue of the under 20 that played ahead of katongo i feel he could have played in the second half because he is learning

  44. kalu was right when he said no Zambian coach is Ready to coach the national team.The same Kalu appoints this crap janza why a shame.

  45. Janza deserved to be given this chance to coach the team. He was the most academically qualified local when the vacancy fell through, however he cant seem to impose his philosophy so the opportunity seems to be wasted. Next in line is chris kaunda. Another uefa b graduate and under 17 coach. Right now. Its back to expatriates

  46. Curse of winning a cup, Germany beaten,Spain spent force ,Nigeria clobbered,zambia kulawayawayafe so be like Ivory Coast semi final, losing finalist hence maintain good state

Leave a reply

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Stay Connected

37,000FansLike
9,690FollowersFollow
- Advertisement -spot_imgspot_imgspot_imgspot_img

Trending