Thursday, March 28, 2024

Application Over Style Hands Zambia Under-20 Win

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Zambia Under-20 beat Seychelles Under-20, 3-0 in the two sides opening match at this years Cosafa Youth Cup in a Group A match played at Galeswane Stadium in Kimberly this afternoon.

The result was not a true reflection of proceedings on the pitch in this scrappy match that Zambia failed to give an authoritative performance but applied the fundamentals against a resolute Seychelles who had stacked-up five men at the back.

It was a poor first half, and game overall, that saw the record 7-time Cosafa Under-20 champions fail to spark or give anything close to a convincing performance.

Moreover, strikers John Chingandu and Morgan Kaoma failed to blend in attack and constantly got into each others way.

The star of the show for Zambia throughout wasn’t playmaker and captain Henry Banda from Zanaco as eagerly anticipated but his fellow midfielder Nathan Sinkala of Green Buffaloes who was Zambia’s quality player in the 90 minutes.

Banda was substituted in the 80th minute to summarize Zambia’s overall report card on Saturday at Galeswane.

However, it was man-of-the-match Sinkala with a commanding display in his defensive midfield role and elegant passing that calmed the storm before it raged uncontrollably in attack when he sent the ball forward.

Sinkala almost got a deserved reward for his display with goal for Zambia in the 21st minute but his long-range shot hit the horizontal before landing on the goal line and was later cleared out of play.

And after much huff and puff, Zambia scored their opening goal in the 36th minute through Kaoma after poking the ball through a forest of Seychelles players from inside the 6-yard box on the near post.

Seychelles then gave Zambia a late first half scare in the 45th minute when Alfredo Manoo tested goalkeeper William Chibale with a thumping shot that the Lusaka Dynamos minder parried for a corner that came to nothing.

Zambia made it 2-0 in the 74th minute in the midst of another uncoordinated display when Kaoma tapped in a cross from Innocent Mwaba to get his second of the tournament.

Mwaba should have made it 3-0 four minutes later but skied the ball at point blank range when it seemed easier to tap-in the ball from the near post outside the 6 than hit it with such force that veered wildly over the bar.

Zambia made it 3-0 dead on 90 minutes when Saint Nkhoma, who had just replaced Banda 10 minutes earlier, turned in the ball from a Jimmy Chisenga pass.

The wins somewhat eases some pressure on Zambia ahead of Mondays big penultimate stage showdown against Group A leaders South Africa at De Beers Stadium in a match that will decide the fate of one of the two teams in this years tournament.

South Africa swept Lesotho off the park with a 4-0 win on Friday at Absa Park with a thorough display of football that must have made the diski gods very proud.

Zambia are second in the Group level on 3 points with South Africa who lead with a better goal difference while Seychelles and Lesotho are 3rd and 4th respectively at the end of match day one.

Malawi 5- Mauritius 0

Zimbabwe 3- Botswana 2

Swaziland 3- Namibia 3

Madagascar 1- Comoros 1*

*Abandoned after 15 minutes due to administrative reasons. Cosafa to make decision on Sunday.

UPDATE

Zambia Vs Angola to be played on Sunday

17 COMMENTS

  1. Well done young men, show them what you are made of. We are behind you to give all the support. Zimbabwe has also done well but the trouble is if it wins, the trophy will be Mugabe’s personal asset, greedy man.

  2. Rupiah Bwezani Banda is asking for trouble by seeking investment from Nigeria, one of the most corrupt countries in the world. If the Nigerian businessmen and investors come and mess up Zambia, chalk up another empty victory for Bwezani.

  3. Renard should get used o suh situations ,African football is full of mistreatments,some games are played on the same day the team arrives.

  4. renard was right to complain. faz officials wud have said thanx for the wonderful reception.i believe in that man. he reminds me of poulsen

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