Zambia has never struggled this much in terms of the goalkeeping department like in the recent years. With Kennedy Mweene in the sunset of his career it has been very difficult to point at someone who will replace one of the celebrated players in the country.
Zambia had several options when it came to goalkeeping some time back, Efford Chabala was Zambia’s first choice goalkeeper from 1983 until his death in a plane crash off the Gabonese coast in 1993 and is one of Zambia’s most capped player, with 108 full international appearances.
James Phiri is regarded as one of the best Zambian goalkeepers of his generation. He was the main goalkeeper in the squad for the 1994 and 1996 Africa Cup of Nations tournaments and was voted Zambian Footballer of the Year for two consecutive seasons in 1993 and 1994.
James Phiri lost his place to Davies Phiri, the former Kabwe Warriors goalkeeper was number one goal minder from 1994 to 2004. The nonsense goalkeeper features in the 1996, 1998, 2000 and the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations.
Collins Mbulo deputized James Phiri but at the aged of 27 years he made his long waited debut. These are the kind of goalkeepers Zambia had, the goalkeeper on the bench would easily slot in as first choice keeper.
Fast forward into the last decade, Zambia has struggled to have a goalkeeper who is stable and since 2013 there has been a number of keepers who have come on board, after the 2013 COSAFA Danny Munyao had a very good tournament and won goalkeeper of the tournament. Munyao was deemed as the direct successor of Kennedy Mweene but a long ankle injury layoff limited his potential of been number one Chipolopolo goalkeeper.
That has lead to a series of goalkeepers coming in and going out, In the last 6 six years the national team had Allan Chibwe, Moses Mapulanga, Toaster Nsabata, Lawrence Mulenga, Jackson Kakunta, Sebastian Mwange, Charles Muntanga and many others stepping up but all have failed to cement the first choice position, inconsistency has see them tumble.
In the match against Zimbabwe at Heroes stadium, Chipolopolo fans had a glimpse of Mwenya Chibwe who opted to play for Zambia his parents’ country rather than South Africa his place of birth.
He was making his competitive debut for the national team ahead of Toaster Nsabata and Sebastian Mwange who were left on the substitution bench, after all he had an impressive debut despite the Chipolopolo losing 2-1.
Many were left asking after that tremendous performance if truly he is the saviour who will save the Chipolopolo from this goalkeeping crisis, he showed that he is full of reflexes, can command the backline and looked a bit nervous but such is normal specially when you are playing your first game for the national team.
He is neither scared to start the buildup from the back, an attribute a modern keeper should have. He is a kind of a sweeper keeper, he is comfortable to use his feet and that gives him an upper hand than Toaster Nsabata and Sebastian Mwange.
Chibwe just need some time to familiarize himself to his new environment and language but so far he has proved in the South African league where he is playing for Polokwane City FC that he can be undisputed Chipolopolo first choice keeper and Kennedy Mweene’s long term successor.
S Mwange was ok. Toaster , like Jacob Banda concedes too many.
The problem is the coaching tactics of going defensive against quality opposition and then resorting to long balls . In the U23 math vs Nigeria and possibly the Zimbabwe game, the strategy did not work. the players are ok- not great but certainly not a 5-0 type of team from Seychelles.
In the Algeria game from the 50th odd minute onwards the players simply crumbled and let in 4.
The coaches are not reading the game.
Algeria on the other hand like any Arab team defend well ,but when they get the slightest of chances the ball is in the back of the net. For this to improve takes a good coach – not any coach,
a coach like H Renard who FAZ was astute enough to recruit had the ” nous”.
Until then it will be long ball all the way down the FIFA rankings.
Qatar 2022- lets see…
You have hit the nail right on its head, especially with the long balls flying over the midfielders only to land on the opponents heads and cleared away. It is not the Zambian style.
About the goalkeeper is great just like this under23 goalkeeper Bradley Mweene should the understudy of Chibwe. He was good in the under23 game vs Ivory Coast
The other problem we in Zambian football is the use of foreign players. There must a limit as to how many of these can be used by a club at the same time. 3 at the same time will give chance to our young Zambian players. At some point Buildcom or whoever they are had 11 foreign players starting in in one game. FAZ should address this issue if they are serious. It is pushing young Zambian players to the cliff. FAZ are not serious with club football that is the problem. Kamanga has no clue on how o run football. We need someone else. Isabi pa kubola lyambila ku mutwe
If nothing is done it will be the same results, even worse
I rest my case
well said brotherman.
Good one GSK11. The Coaches can’t coach at a high level i agree with you. We in trouble yet we have the talent.
ZAMBIAN FOOTBALL PROBLEM
The other problem we have in Zambian football is the use of foreign players. There must be a limit as to how many of these a team can time in a game. 3 at the same time will give chance to our young Zambian players. Clubs can buy as many as they wish but can only use three (3) at the same time .I recall at some point Buildcom or whoever they are had 11 foreign players starting in in one game. FAZ should address this issue if they are serious. It is pushing young Zambian players to the cliff. FAZ are not serious with club football that is the problem. Kamanga has no clue on how o run football. We need someone else. Isabi pa kubola lyambila ku mutwe
If nothing is done it will be the same results, even worse
I rest my case