The Zambia nation team’s hopes of qualifying to the 2022 FIFA Qatar 2022 World Cup are all but over after they were beaten 2 – 0 away by Equatorial Guinea.
The talking points however will be around the officiating of the game with the Moroccan referee Noureddine El Jaafari putting up quite a show that left the Chipolopolo players shell-shocked with Prince Mumba getting a straight red card in the 25th minute.
Zambia looked disjoint in the opening exchanges but seemed to stabilize as the half wore on.
The Chipolopolo seemed to be getting a stranglehold on the game and were the more likely to score when 20 year old Mumba was given marching orders for a studs up challenge.
The hosts took the lead in the 33rd minute when an out-swinging freekick from the left side of the Zambia defense was turned in by Bassey Oubina who was let to run freely into the box goalkeeper Mwenya Chibwe beaten by the cross he misjudged.
Beston Chambeshi seemed to have revitalized his team after the break and the best chance of the game fell to Patson Daka who was picked at the back post by Fashion Sakala in the 48th minute but he failed to score in gaping goal from four yards with the keeper beaten.
Zambia did not look like they were a man down and the combination of Sakala and Daka upfront was causing the hosts problems but the two strikers continued to fluff their lines when it mattered most.
Chambeshi made changes that saw Kelvin Mubanga, Rally Bwalya and Moses Phiri come in for Lubambi Musonda, Clatous Chama and Sakala respectively but they all failed to raise the tempo of the game with the the Chipolopolo ending the game looking leggy.
To add to all the strange decision he had made, the yellow cards to Patson Daka, Dickson Chapa and Dominic Chanda and the blatant fouls he had ignored, the referee El Jaafari made a strange decision in the 86th minute.
He blew for a foul against Benedict Chepeshi and run towards the player with a yellow card in his hand. With the Zambian players pausing to remonstrate and expecting play to be stopped, the Guineans took a quick freekick catching the Zambian players off guard. The referee allowed play to go and put the card back in his pocket. They moved the ball quickly into the box and took a shot on target from close range which Chibwe saved but Emelio Nsue was on hand to punish Zambia with the second goal.
Zambia remain second from bottom on three points while Equatorial Guinea move to six points, level with Tunisia who play Mauritania this evening.
The two teams meet again on Sunday in Lusaka at the National Heroes Stadium.
Without a doubt the Ref was biased. Patson should have had a penalty or foul on the 18 Line and a Red Card to E.Guinea player in the First Half. So many other strange calls. Could not watch till the end. Stopped watching at 80 minutes. It was not good for my health.
The Referee and his Assistants is another topic for another day.
If Zambia wants to qualify for AFCON & probably the W.Cup one day PLEASE DO NOT APPOINT A LOCAL COACH. PERIOD!! So many pundits on this blog gave reasons why.
Angola and Togo with all respect to them the qualified on merit to the W.C in 2006. But both these Teams don’t have the Talent Zambia currently has. If FAZ was serious and called all the boys and sorted their Visas Zambia would be sitting on Top of the Group or just a point or two behind Tunisia. With the right Coach that is.
Please FAZ leave Mwepu, Daka, Fashion, Cletus and the boys in Sweden alone for the rest of the qualifiers. Let the local players play or an U23 Team. Let these boys establish themselves at their clubs. Its their 1st Season most of them. Patson and Mwepu have not been supported by FAZ so as to field the strongest team for Zambia.
BYE QATAR 2022. Let the serious teams go and participate. WE NOT SERIOUS(FAZ)
Report that referee to CAF please
morrocan = Diramba
Imwe baba simuziba vamene mukamba, coacha is just a right coach for today’s game its the official were against us Zambia
Not about the coacha, you cant say ba FAZ and international players to blame ummm yama nga simuziba bola why not just leave it? Guys today have displayed a very beautiful set pieces only officials have killed our game.
Thank youd
The referee was bad, but even display from our team was very much below par! At one point I forgot that Daka and Fashion Sakala were in the team. They were not visible! And where has that carpet football Zambia was known for disappeared to? Any qualified and technical football coach should teller his strategy to the prevailing situation! What was visible even to a layman is that the Equatorial Guinea players are much taller than the Zambian players so why concentrate on high balls most of the match, when it’s easier to out do them on the ground than in the air! Secondly the ground was slippery, heaven knows if the Chipolopolo had the right boots! If not, a technical coach advises his players to keep close to each to maintain possession! With that when Daka slipped two times in front of a galloping goal, the nearby Zambian player could have easily slotted it home! Thirdly, the Zambian players concentrated more on advising the referee or picking up quarrels with him instead of playing football. Whatever you say on the field of play to a referee (in the absence of Video refereeing) the referee is the final authority! But certainly FAZ should protest against that Morrocan referee so that the appointing authorities can sunction him!
And the current current crop of Zambia’s senior national soccer team lacks a leader on the field since departure of Christopher Katongo. It’s really amazing because all previous crops of national soccer teams of had somebody the other players looked up to! But now even the Captaincy changes hands like White shirts! Before Katongo, it was Kalusha Bwalya, as leader, before that it was Efford Chabala, Ashous Melu, Jones Chilengi, Ackim Musenge, Godfrey Chitalu, Dickson Makwaza, Happy Malama/Samuel Ndhlovu! Without a leader motivation is really low! Katwishi uko tuleya!
That referee,needs to be taught a lesson about his responsibility on the pitch.
nothing to do with the ref. isolate the ref from the game and we still wouldnt have won. we were below par, cant remember us mastering a shot on goal. clearly team selection is the culprit. prince mumba, honestly? zambia has plenty of players across europe to make a formidable squad.
As Zambians please take legal Proceeding Against the Referee Because he was Biased so Faz do your Work Do It fast petition the game Please
That referee was bought , and is the useless referee that I have ever seen ,such people must not be tolerated in the world of football,let the Faz take that cow to CAF for discipline,coz he can cause people to fight or he can be beaten by players , he must be suctioned
Whereas our national team’s performance last night was evidently way below par, it’s also fair to say the officiating of the match was painfully reminiscent of the Diramba saga nearly three decades ago.
In my view that ref wants Tunisia to qualify. He refused and ignored anything that would help Zambia in the Game. CAF and FIFA should watch and study that game and they will see for themselves. How will we ever develop and improve the game on this continent?
We tend to overrate ourselves and when we fail there’s always an outcry of the coach, referee, the pitch etc. We are just a team far below international standards mwebantu. We fail to win easy regional competitions, we fail.to qualify for AFCON and yet we still harbour extremely high hopes of going to the world cup. We are joker. We are also putting too much pressure on Patson Daka. Each time he kicks a ball in Europe, that will make headline news back home. Let’s be realistic and give the boy space to mature
It is was very unfortunate that the referee was against Zambia despite the team putting in their best. Hope FAZ will launch a complaint to FIFA. Zambia was robbed by a biased referee
Let people with good understanding of soccer in the likes Great Kalusha Bwalya run Zambian soccer