It’s now or never for the Klings Kangwa led midfield as Zambia looks to secure their first qualification to the round of 16 since 2012.
The Chipolopolo Boys will today face off with the Atlas Lions of Morocco in a do or die Group F Africa Cup of Nations match.
Avram Grant’s men need to avoid defeat to secure qualification to the next round.
The 2012 winners have had a slow start which can also be described as poor.
A hard fought point against a ‘superior’ DR Congo and below par showing against Tanzania leaves Zambia third in the group with two points after two matches.
However, their biggest challenge yet comes tonight as they face off with the 2022 FIFA World Cup semi finalists.
One department that has been poor this tournament is the midfield, Zambia has created very few chances.
After the DR Congo draw striker Patson Daka admitted that Zambia created very few chances if any.
“If i’m being honest it was a great performance defensive wise but it was below average going forward. We did not create many chances if any for us to get maximum points from that game. So I would say a point for us was good and we can only build on that going forward,” Daka said.
Going into this tournament, Klings Kangwa was viewed as the man to create chances for the Chipolopolo front three but so far his tournament has been lacklustre at best.
Kangwa’s ball carrying ability is what Zambia needs this evening when they take on the highly fancied Morocco side.
Kangwa will need to somehow summon his inner ‘Luka Modric’ to guide Zambia to the promised land.
One thing for sure is that Zambia can find the back of the net, but Patson Daka needs proper service to be able to get into his scoring stride.
Aside from the goal against DR Congo, it’s hard to point to what Klings Kangwa has really done, and it’s not for his lack of ability hence he just needs to step up tonight, it’s now or never.
Apart from Kangwa, Emmanuel Banda has also not yet had his ‘Lion roar’, the midfield general will be needed today more than ever.
He will need to put in a shift and a half against the likes of Sofyan Amrabat, Selim Amallah and the silky Azzedine Ounahi.
Going up against that quality, Kangwa, Banda and Kelvin Kapumbu who seem to be Grant’s preferred midfield trio need to show up today and show up big time.
With that said, Zambia needs to show up as a whole because they can’t afford to give Morocco even an inch of space as they are so good in all departments.
The match kicks off at 22:00 hours (Zambian Time) and will be played simultaneously with the DR Congo versus Tanzania.
The defence will be exposed and Morocco will more than likely score first and then sit back and frustrate as N Africans do.
The key is Fashion.
I doubt any defence can handle the pace of Patson and Fashion.
Fasion needs to play the full 90 minutes. Fashion can supply from the left wing and right, the left back could needs to provide decent supply.
The absence of R Kabwe means someone with a bit more pace than Kabwe,needs to do the job.
But who?
Shikulu needs to find a solution fast otherwise…
back to the drawing board.