Poor decision-making and Zambia’s ‘individual brilliance’ led to Namibia’s downfall in their Cosafa Cup match in Polokwane on Saturday according to coach Ricardo Mannetti.
The Brave Warriors will now face South Africa in the Plate semifinals at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium on Tuesday.
“Our idea was to win the ball higher up the field and keep Zambia in their own half, but they got out of our defensive traps with individual brilliance. So we had to go to Plan B to deny them space in our own half – we did OK with that, but our decision-making in attack was not very good and I thought we could have been calmer on the ball, we were too rushed,” he said.
Mannetti said Namibia’s momentum dropped in the final 30 minutes when they were disrupted by injuries to Panduleni Nekundi and Dynamo Fredericks.
“Over the last 30 minutes Zambia became stronger and they started to dominate the match. We were forced into making subs that we didn’t want to make – unfortunately I had to replace Kaka and then we couldn’t keep the momentum going up front to keep them under pressure.”
He said Zambia’s individual brilliance set them apart and Namibia still had a lot to learn in terms of ball skills.
“They were confident on the ball, while their passing and the way they created space set them apart. They were composed, while we were not, and we still have a lot to learn” he said.
Regarding the penalty shoot-out, Mannetti said they were well prepared, but that it did not go their way on the day.
“During training we concentrated a lot on penalties, but it just didn’t happen on the day for us. Many people say penalties are a lottery, but I don’t agree, I believe in practise, which we did, but today it did not go our way.
[COSAFA.COM]
Well, that is true. While I had an opportunity comment solely on the weaknesses of the Chipolopolo in their encounter against Namibia in my comment under one article on this forum,I must point out that this one irks me to share the strengths I picked in the same side.
Defence: They were confortable and composed when in possesion.The guys accounted themselves well in clearing half goal chances thereby denying the Brave Warriors to sneak in a goal or goals that could have caused sorrow in Zambia and indeed Zambia supporters who are abroad.
Midfield: They stringed the passes with easy and a bit of flare. I must mention that opening up and going over the wall and hurdles respectively, set up by the opponents was made to look not so difficult in the centre of the park. While it was team effort,more credit must be given to Cletus Chota Chama. Wow.This guy has amazing ball control skills and trickery. Apart from the above the midfield can also get the collective accolade of producing the most threatening shorts at goal. In fact the reason Namibia could not play according to their plan was because of the disorientation that came with the passing acumen of Chota and company in midfield. While Chota appeared to dominate his mates in doing the trickery that shut Namibia out,one would be making a mistake not to mention the dirty work the green buffaloes midfielder was doing in favor of the Chipolopolo. Despite him found wanting due to the numerous back passes he made, the opponent felt his presence very well and when they needed exposure to such. Thanks to ba-Jack Chirwa.He did very well in that aspect.
Strikers: reserved comments.
Thanks Anonymous for your valuable analysis.I just hope that your analysis are seriously taken into consideration as well.
By the coach and the technical team.
Zamfoot your reporting is s bit biased .Are we saying that even his winning of Under20 Afcon was due to individual performance or even world cup.We have to give credit where its due.Chambesh is a good coach lets give him all the support
He has a good technical
It wasn’t Zamfoot who claimed individual brilliance of Zambia’s players.It was Namibia National team Coach.