The Zambia U20 men’s national football team defeated Tenerife B 1-0 in a practice match played at the Centro Insular de Atletismo de Tenerife on Tuesday.
The only goal of the match came in the 85th minute through second half substitute Mwape Mumba who netted five minutes after replacing Kenneth Kalunga. Enock Mwepu provided the assist.
Coach Beston Chambeshi selected his strongest starting eleven, making two changes to the team which defeated South Africa in the U-20 Cosafa Cup final on December 16.
Kenneth Kalunga and Joseph Phiri were named in the starting line-up in the absence of Fashion Sakala and Patson Daka.
Mangani Banda started in goal, guarded by a back four comprised of Solomon Sakala and Moses Nyondo in central defence while Prosper Chiluya and Shemmy Mayembe were at left back and right back respectively.
Midfield kingpin Boyd Musonda was partnered in central midfield by Enock Mwepu while Chrispin Sakulanda and Kalunga were deployed on the flanks.
Edward Chilufya was partnered in attack by Joseph Phiri.
“The game was fine, we are happy with the way the boys played. We still have to put in a lot of work because we missed a lot of good chances. But we are still preparing and we have to improve especially in defence; we don’t want any slip ups there,” said Chambeshi.
“Today’s opposition gave us a good run; it was not an easy team. We have learnt one or two things. In the next game we have to polish up in both attack and defence. We hope to score a lot of goals in our next practice match with Basel because the U-20 Afcon which we are preparing for is about scoring goals.
“We happy that even our substitutes changed the game resulting into a goal which is a sign that we are building a strong team,” he said.
Zambia senior national team coach Wedson Nyirenda also shared his views in a post match interview.
“I think we are getting better. It’s been about two months since the U20 Cosafa Cup final. We controlled the game from the first whistle and the boys showed good character. We missed a lot of chances but we are looking better,” said Nyirenda.
“We maintained the same starting line-up as the one we used in the Cosafa final because we need to have a base of the team. The team we used today is the base of the team.
“There are other good players who should be joining the squad later. We don’t have Patson, Fashion and Luchanga here. Today we saw Mwape Mumba, he came in and gave us the winner. He is gelling well with the rest of the team. This is a sign that we have a good foundation for the senior national team.”
Nyirenda advised the players to remain focused and keep their concentration in their next match scheduled for Thursday at 13h00 against FC Basel reserve team.
Zambia will also face Las Palmas and Real Madrid reserve sides on 4th and 6th February respectively.
Zambia U20 vs Tenerife B:
Mangani Banda, Shemmy Mayembe, Prosper Chiluya, Solomon Sakala, Moses Nyondo, Boyd Musonda, Kenneth Kalunga (Mwape Mumba), Enock Mwepu, Joseph Phiri (Harrison Chisala), Edward Chilufya, Crispin Sakulanda (Happy Nsofwa).
By Fazfootball