Zambia picked an important win away from home when they beat Kenya 2 – 1 in Nairobi to go second of Group E in the Gabon 2017 qualifying seried on goal difference.
Recalled veteran striker Collins Mbesuma made the difference in the first half when he made an assist for Winstone Kalengo and scored one himself as Zambia came from behind to win 2 – 1.
As expected, George Lwandamina named and gave full international debuts to teenage full backs in the game as wekk as U23 holding midfielder Jack Chirwa to play box to box with Kalengo leading the line while Mbesuma played as the support striker.
Zambia were the first to settle and looked comfortable on the ball until they were undone by a long ball which Aaron Katebe misjudged to let bounce for Michael Olunga to sneak in between Katebe, Boyd Mkandawire and Kennedy Mweene to poke home for Kenya in the 13th minute.
Zambia picked the pieces quickly after that and Mbesuma looked menacing, twice finding Kalaba in dangerous position despite the Chipolopolo captain being off form.
Zambia first real chance fell to Kalengo when he was teed by Chisamba who danced his way to the by-line in the 18 yard box after he was again found by Mbesuma but his effort was saved by the keeper with hardworking Chirwa arriving late in the box only to shoot straight at the keeper who was sprawled on the ground.
It wasn’t long before Mbesuma this time deep in attack managed to turn and released the ball to Kalengo who had his back on the goal but managed to cool it down, turn and blasted home on from inside the area.
The Zambian league top scorer Kalengo returned the favor in the 42nd minute when he laid the ball for Mbesuma from a throw-in which found him in the box and Mbesuma wasted no time to blast home in a tight position for Zambia to take a 2 – 1 lead in the second half.
The tempo of Zambia’s game dropped in the second half but Lwandamina was comforted to see his lads soak in the pressure with Kenya mostly playing either in their half or pumping ling balls in the box as they tried to take advantage of their superior height.
As the half wore on, Zambia’s play literally broke down as it seemed to be an exercise of attack versus defense with Zambia on the receiving end with the bus parked but a disciplined and technical performance saw the Chipolopolo boys hold on to the end.
Zambia host Congo in the next match scheduled for the midweek of 23 to 26 March 2016 while Kenya travel to Guinea Bissau during the same week
Zambia XI:
Kennedy Mweene – Benedict Chepeshi, Boyd Mkandawire (Solomon Sakala), Aaron Katebe, Stopilla Sunzu – Nathan Sinkala, Chisamba Lungu (Lubambo Musonda), Jack Chirwa, Rainford Kalaba – Collins Mbesuma, Winstone Kalengo (Kondwani Mtonga)
Kenya XI: 1. Arnold Origi (GK), 15. David Owino, 17. Lawrence Olum, 5. Brian Mandela, 3. Dennis Odhiambo, 12. Victor Wanyama (C),13. Collins Okoth [6. Noah Wafula], 7. Ayub Timbe 16. Paul Were [Johanna Omolo 9. ] 10 .Dennis Oliech [11.Allan Wanga], 14.Michael Olunga
Photo Courtesy of ba Nkweto
Congratulations Chipolopolo. The coach could have done better in the second half. The midfield was overwhelmed Jack Chirwa was no where to be seen. Mtonga should have come in with Lubambo Musonda to stabilize the midfield and bring in Speed going forward. Kenya opened up so much in the second half we shud have gone for a kill. The two boys are far from convincing to wear that jersey at this stage. Fuckson Kapumbu from Zanaco and Kabaso Chongo must take up those roles immediately. Gabon will skin us alive if we go thin in strength. Decision making by the technical bench didn’t support Zambia. Hope the coach has learned critical lessons from this game.
Seems Mtonga and Lubambo did come one,maybe later than expected.Good obeservation on defence lapse and solutions.
Well done team!
It’s fair to say Zambia is still trying out different players in various positions. According to updates on super sports, Zambia were deserved winners and Mbesuma was the standout player with class in everything he did. The only negative pointed out was the play acting by Zambian players to kill time.
That play acting irritated me to the bones. Very unlike Zambia. It was like watching Tunisia or Algeria.
We have won the game but its winning it ugly and dangerously though. On the other end, the coach got it wrong on the full backs. Those two young lads, Chepeshi and Mkandawire are suspect and are too tiny for big opponets. The central defence of Katebe and Sunzu was also error prone. Katebe should go to left full back. Let Munthali partner Sunzu, and Kabaso or Donashano ku right back. We need big strong players at the back. Even Kabaso Chongo should be brought back. Lwandamina got it wrong on the defence, although they held their own. If we were playing formidable opposition, the would have butchered Zambia. The best way of defending is to attack. Midfielder also “died” in second half. Big up to Mbesuma. I think he was my man of the match from the Zambian squad.
Mission accomplished though. We’ve made up for that draw against Guinea Bissau. The real battle will be in Congo. A good morale booster for the friendly against Gabon on Tuesday.
Is Aaron Kateba a left fullback?
He is more of a center back or right full back. But we have no option at the left. These youngsters are not convincing. Thats why I mentioned, if we can try Katebe at left back. Maybe they should recall Fackson Kapumbu of Zanaco. It up to the coach though. We as soccer fans can only tall and speculate.
Woe to you jacob mulenga, you could have been part of the winning team. Maybe on the scoresheet aswell. A player will always be happy to lift the country’s flag not a club.
Congrats our great boys Chipolopolo. And the travelling soccer fans … we heard the Chipolopolo anthem. Glory to mother Zambia ad the Late Dennis Lie we would say. And congrats to the Zamfoot bloggers. We can only get better. Shalom
Zambia is winning this group with Mayuka joining metz and Rogers kola getting game time in Greece and the impressive Winston kalengo and mbesuma I see zambia even going to the world cup. What is needed is to tighten the defence. Kabaso is more solid than those boys. Mbola may also have to come back.
ba john u have now changed colours
Kekekeke awe John katwishi fye mwe… na Kola wakwe. The team Lwandamina has is good, only missing:
– Alex Ngonga
– Allan Mukuka
Johi is a special Camealon so we all understand
ba john ukulanda fye ati thank you chicken george chalishupa with all your negativity we have risen above your narrow of things. make your own national team emo ulebika ba mauka na kola
Those small boys shoud nt used again ba lwandamina twapapata they ar stil raw.
Congratulations boys but i mentioned it here that these boys chepeshi and mundawire are can’t stand the pressure at this level.we needed chongo or nkausu and and katebe can help us on right back then khondwani to partner sunzu .we don’t need experiments here if possible please bring bring back kabaso and chishimba from nkana to take up left back otherwise we will be butchered at our backyard on tuesday.
Too bad I am not FAZ president,otherwise I would hv used the Under 23 Olympics team in the Gabon friendly.The tournament in Senegal is drawing near and this match against Gabon would have been a quality preparatory match for Boys. It’s just a friendly match after all.
That would be disrespecting Gabon. And other countries would stop wanting to play friendlies with zambia in future. As a matter of fact, there are agreements that must be honoured by both teams/ nations even in friendly matches.
That is true
John unless Zambia is grouped with Ghana, Nigeria or Algeria forget about the world cup.
I watched the Guinea Bissau/Congo match which the latter won 2-4. The score line flatters Congo because they were not dominant at all. Guinea Bissau were playing home and they threw caution to the wind by playing an open game which exposed their defense. This gave Congo the chances to counter attack and score. Guinea Bissau played much better than Congo. But to their credit, Congo were very clinical in front of goal. Judging from what I saw, Zambia will be committing suicide if we field inexperienced defenders against Congo. If the coach does his homework I’m of the view that we could actually massacre Congo.
Well done Chipolopolo, its always hard to win away. With the next game in March I just hope we are going to find more players to top the group. Yes we didn’t play good football in the last 45, defending too deep allowing the Harambe stars to throw every on the Chipolopolo. Mayuka, Jacob Mulenga, Roger Kola and more will stabilize our team
Nigeria will not qualify for afcon 2017 let them forget. Egypt has hammered Chad 5-1. Egypt will win the group. Alex zz with Mayuka playing regularly and mbesuma finding his form together with this new discovery of kalengo wo scored the first goal and some talent we have in Greece by the name of kola. Zambia will be armed with lethal strikers for world cup qualification.
Congrats our great boys Chipolopolo. And the travelling soccer fan … we heard the Chipolopolo anthem. ‘Glory to mother Zambia!’as the Late Dennis Liwewe would usually say. And congrats to the Zamfoot bloggers. We can only get better. Shalom
Dispite all the observations and negative comments against the 2 young deffenders during and after the game, the truth is that the 2 boyz were energetic enough to contain the likes of Wanyamas making them disapear in the entire game. The only costiful mistake was commited by the young man in jersey 5 after missing that long ball which resulted into conceading. The presure we saw in the 2nd half came as a result of wanting to defend the lead which shouldn’t be the 2 boyz’ fault but the coach’s.
They did not contain Wanyama, Mbesuma did. Don’t lie, they Wanyamas did not disappear, the boys were under pressure and hence resorted to feigning injuries to waste some time. Don’t bury your head in the sand. We have a problem at the back.
@John um not disputing zambia is a formidable team, all um saying they can’t win any group containing Ghana,Algeria or Nigeria , Ghana and Algeria are very strong when it comes to world cup qualification on the other hand Zambia just can’t seem to beat Nigeria.
Why can’t you leave Zambia out of it? You and your countries are in different groups. You have your battles to fight and if you are lucky we meet at AFCON in Gabon.
Moreover the task was too big for them, being the 1st time to play in the national team a competative game at the same time an away game, as for me these are talents discourvered which we shouldn’t throw away but to be motivated by all soccer loving zambians.
There are games these two young boys should play and games they should not play. For instance in the friendly against Gabon tomorrow at home, they can be thrown in.
Replace the right and left backs. Go for wins of all remaining games. Any draw or loss is suicide. We cannot allow any of that to happen. We must learn from our past mistakes against Lesotho, Sudan matches which subsequently led to a loss to Ghana.
We stil have a lot of work to do more especial on the wing defenders.
i was impressd of the combination of mbesuma and kalengo they have played very well thats why we have won the game.
Mtonga shud have start ahead of chirwa.
Yes true.
lets not rush to condenm the boys in question. They did their best. its not easy, unless you have never played football: not evn madaalas.
Let these new teen fullbacks be the present and the future stars . Its very encouraging to start teenagers in an away game ,Lwandamina should be recommended and applauded for his courage and confidence for making these tuff decisions . We can only judge these ok kids when they fail to grow in confidence and rise as they play more games .Mtonga and other named players have failed to live up to expectation despite carrying the ‘people’s faourite ‘ tag.Chicken is by far a better local coach and we should give him much needed support. Just like Kalusha recieved criticism when he introduced alot of Young players to the national team ,then went on to be become peoples favourite and lifted afcon in 2012. We should not aim to maximize our performances as at now ,we should rather forgore some good average performance and nurture young players for the best future performances .
Well Said
I wonder what the people requesting for the two young full backs to be dropped are thinking.First of all you say that they are raw,when are they going to gain the experience? Is it going to drop from heaven? Those boys are past 20 years old and have been featuring for the U23 and Chan team regularly.Secondly we need find long term solutions to our problems,not players who will just play for one or two years.By 2018 the boys will be aged between 23-25 and will have gained a lot of experience to compete at the highest level
We are not saying that the boys shouldn’t’ play, but I think there are certain games we need to play them and not crucial ones. I can bet my finger if we feature these two young defenders in the game against Congo in Brazzaville, they will be torn apart to pieces. Congolese are very huge, rough and difficult to play. There are games we can introduce these youngsters for them to gain confidence such us in the game tomorrow. In such games as the friendly, the pressure is low and it’s a home game.
We got the three points. What we need to do now is regroup and strategise on how to over come Congo Brazzaville. The are a strong team. I agree with @Stumpy and @Billy the young fellows who played left and right back today won’t cope against the tall and big Congolese. Those chaps are strong. We need Mbola back and Kabaso in the team.
Mbesuma’s experience was a big plus to the young boys playing upfront. Kenya at home are difficult to beat. These guys gave Nigeria problems last Nation cup qualifiers.
@Sibs, thats very true. There are certain games we need the young lads to play them and not crucial ones, as we gradually introduce them. I can bet my finger if we feature these two young defenders in the game against Congo in Brazzaville, they will be torn apart to pieces. Congolese players are very huge, rough and difficult to play. I myself wouldn’t mind if the coach can even play Donashano at right back, and Mbola at left back. These are tried and tested players and will contain the Congolese at home because their experience. There are games we can introduce these youngsters for them to gain confidence such us in the game tomorrow. In such a game as a friendly, the pressure is low and it’s a home game.
guys was ths even a winning team coz we still hav a load of work to do. we do not have a creative midfielder as it is. all the same, good win. but that left back looks underweight to me.
Hahaha….I can now laugh the loudest..
Zambia really made my day….I also love johns points.he is a true follower of Zambian football….I think ifintu tafiba bwino panganda ngatwalusa.faz should honor john….
Congrats boys especially Kalengo have always doubted your ability today u proved me wrong congrats. Next time let’s not start defending norrow leads but let’s play an open game even when we leading.
Thanks to SS for us who are based in South Africa, we are able to watch ZPL games. The moment I watch 2 to 3 matches of ZESCO and Kalengo, I knew we have a striker who could be a solution to our scoring problems. For those who follow my posts, I have been mentioning his name that this guy could become a good partnership with Mbesuma. I indeed it paid yesterday.
Nearly everyone is imposing their preferred players on the team. Am pretty sure Lwandamina knows what he is doing.
Credit to Lwandamina for not taking silly risks while trying to go for the kill.
CHIPOLOPOLO 4EVER.
Well done copper bullet,coach must work on defence.good for mbesuma
Congratulations to the coach Chicken George firstly and the players second. I doubted the choice of Mbesuma, i still question, but for now he and even his under fire teamate Kalengo have proven the doubters(myself included) wrong!
We took the game seriously, more seriously than we have in a long time, and that is a great result we got.
Despite allot of things were falling apart before the game, player availability, organisation in their arrival of some players and those things we must not allow to happen again. They will be our downfall eventually if we are not careful with our eyes off the ball.
We need to work hard and focus on the future, we were missing so much at Equitorial Guinea Afcon… For now i give humble thanks. Tribute to this team that played Kenya.
It was Great that we got all 3points, we can come out top by winning our remaining fixtures. Mbesuma had a good match and kalengo too. We still need to fine tune the defence. good game!
Kalaba of late is off form. We still need kabaso,mbola,j mulenga and let us assess kola and recall mayuka. Surely we have a team.
Well done Zambia. An important away win against a tough Kenya. Good to see Mbesuma back to his best. Looks like the team will get better as they always seem to start slow.
GSK
Having a blackout in Malawi(ths shdnt b an excuse for PF cadres),I missed the whole 1st half.From what I watched,we have a problem which needs to be sorted out.The whole 2nd half was played in Zambias half,a very unacceptable thng.Our players played like amateurs,save for Mwene and Mbesuma.Kenya kept knocking on our door,and if they were abit more clinical like Cape Verde was last time we visited them,we would hv bn tokng of a different story nw.We had no rhythm to the game,it was just like watchng a Malawian division 2 team.If you watch west African games,very different from ours.I think we need a serious,top notch coach,who can bring out the best out of our players.imagine possesion was Kenya 61%,and us 39%.Goal attempts,they were far ahead of us.We need an expatriate coach,not chicken.We need to be abit more serious,or else we are heading for disaster
The behaviour of the Zambian players in feigning injuries was an embarassment to the nation. Yesterday I was ashamed to be Zambian looking at the despicable behaviour of the players and medical team. Disciplinary action should be taken by Faz and the culprits brought to book. If it was Lwandamina who issued instructions to the players to pretend to be injured he should sanctioned. That was a disgrace.
Well done 4 da 3points coz Zambia rarely wins away. But da overall performance was not convincing we failed 2 dominate nd put da game beyond reach. With Congo we shud try and impose ourselves othrwise i c us nt beatin them wit tht kind of display.
I think the best thing the coach did was to put Mbesuma as a SUPPORTING striker, “more like in the hole. Let the younger one run around and let Mbesuma pick him. He picked on players well and can be a great focal point. The system can work very will with active wingers and sharp attacking midfielders. In attack, look for Mbesuma and crowd the opposition, focusing on spaces cuz Mbesma will find you anywhere. And if your chance is gone, give it back to the big man and he will know what to do.
Well articulated!
Congrats big boys. bt chiken shud stop experiments. e.g those two young boys shud nt b startd in qualifying matches bcoz every qualifying match is crucial. let thm mature thru U23! i think Donashano Malama & Munthali shud b used nxt tym. Experince is very important. Mbesuma hs jst provd tht. i also lyk th patnershp of th two strikers, Mbesuma & Kalengo, its somthng tht we hvnt hd fr a long tym. i jst hope tht it continues.
CONGRATULATIONS CHIPOLOPOLO………ZAMBIA!ZAMBIA!
People, those young lads did very well considering that they played for the first a highly competitive game away in Kenya. Kenya is very good team gents and they do not lose at home. They play long and fast balls which is very difficult for any defender. We all know the ability of Kenyans to run 90 minutes without getting tired. Watch their past games against the west African countries and you will tell me that they really torment apart defenses. Equally Sudan and Uganda play fast long balls kind of football. We lost to Sudan away a few years ago and the big guys were there. The young lads had it difficult at start but eventually they picked up and stabilised. Luapula I’m with you bro for excellent analysis.
Each game has a different game plan, the coach reading of the game was poor if we played a better team they would have punished us, all the same congrats to the lads for the three points. Government should give lwandamina target which should be a basis for him to be considered for a long contract for us let’s us observe him.we can’t make such an important decision over a single game.