|By Angela Bambala Bwalya
Chipolopolo head coach George Lwandamina says Zambia’s 5–0 international friendly loss to Argentina national football team was not what they had anticipated, but emphasized that the team will take valuable lessons from the experience.
Lwandamina pointed to costly lapses at key moments—particularly from set-pieces and early goals—as decisive factors that shaped the outcome.
“What we have learnt—conceding at bad times. There are so many lessons from this game. We conceded in the first three minutes, then again in the last three minutes of the first half. In the second half, we also conceded early, which unsettled us. We were playing a highly tactical team,” he said.
The veteran coach stressed that one of the main takeaways was the need for better structure and pressing as a unit.
“One big thing we’ve carried from the pitch is structure and pressing. We have to be very organised, play compact, and try to pull the forwards away from the box so we can force the opposition into mistakes and capitalise,” he explained.
When asked whether his players may have been overawed by the stature of their opponents, Lwandamina offered a balanced view.
“It can be yes or no. Yes, there can be some timidity when playing against big names with such an atmosphere, but we were trying to come out of our shell and string some passes together. At times, we were even threatening. We showed strength, but we made mistakes,” he noted.
Despite the heavy scoreline, Lwandamina defended his players, insisting the result did not fully reflect the team’s performance.
“Not at all. They were just scoring from our mistakes,” he said.
