Defender John Mwengani has received some consolation from the Zambia bench after enduring a forgettable international debut in Saturday’s 2018 CHAN quarterfinals.
A defensive blunder by the Nkana defender handed Sudan the winning goal in the 32nd minute that was scored by Maki Saifeldin that saw Zambia eliminated 1-0 from the tournament.
All this happened, as back home, Mwengani was on the same night handed the Nkana Fans Player of the Year and Most Improved Player award’s in absentia following an outstanding 2017 season that saw him earn his debut Zambia call-up.
“We had so much confidence in the player that is why we brought him in but unfortunately, he did not perform well,” deputy Zambia coach Aggrey Chiyangi said.
“But we cannot punish him, he is a player and it was his debut and he had never played at international level.
“It happens. Yes, because of the mistake he made we lost the game but it happens in football.”
Mwengani made his first start as the Zambia bench shuffled the defence following the suspension of right-back Simon Silwimba who missed the match after accruing two yellow cards in the group stages.
That doesnt sound like the bench is consoling the poor lad. Chiyangi is heaping more blame on the player than offering him relief. I blame the technical bench. They should have allowed him to play in the Namibia game just to settle his nerves a bit. You gradually introduce a player to the international scene. Just look at Mourinho at manutd. He didnt straight away introduce Sanchez in a highly competitive match but against a team that is far below the EPL i.e. Yeovil. I have supported Wada for sometime now, but I give up
please dont tell us about mourinho, that coward of a coach who cant shuffle his players he believes are untouchable no matter the useles performance from them. coaches are pep,klopp,arsene, conte. these have no untouchables. that mourinho been a coward everywhere he goes. do you recall the drogba, lampard terry situ at chelsea.
lukaku has been the worst forward man in living memory and that mourinho of yours does nothing, he sacrifices good players(lingard, anthony, rushford) even pogba is sometimes not good enough. will take MANU 10yrs to EPL title.
experimenting on a crucial match. Blame the bench
The placeholder couldn’t play due to accumulation of yellow cards.
wada is a not a coach.we need to sack the FAZ president.He has destroyed zambian footbal.Kalusha had plans for this country despite his short comings.I don’t think ba Kamanga can go very far.Our team under 20 was assembled by kalusha’s excetive.What has kamanga done?he can’t even play under 20 players who should be used more so that zambia have a great team.But bcoz it was not assembled by wada they want to destroy the team.Why behaving like that ba wada?Anyway ba kamanga is full of theories .He is just using wako ni wako otherwise Wada is not a coach.He should be sacked this year.
It is not only the defender to blame. What about the strikers, why did they not score? If the defender had not made the mistake, it cold have still ended as 0-0.
I agree with you. Why couldn’t the strikers score even two goals? There was no cohesion among the players. Misplaced passes, poor trapping, easily giving away the balls were characteristics of the last two games we played.
Everyone should share the blame!
ZANACO AND ZESCO have been playing competitive football at continental level. Therefore, one would have expected more experienced international players in the team from these two clubs. You do not bring an internationally inexperienced player in a game of such magnitude. The technical bench should have done better.
It happens JOE. The fact remains you are a very good player. I for one know your football journey- You made Mwinilunga Sec School National Champions in 2017 the only school with this achievment in North Western Province. We are proud of you JOE.
do not personalise issues iwe!!
Nyengani does not sound like a winning name either, at least not in a game of spectators such as soccer.
Try other games Nyengani, but bear in mind you will have no spectors, neither will the bench be present.
THIS JUST SHOWS THAT WADA AND CHIENGI LACK A FOOTBALL MIND…THESE TWO CHARACTERS BAKEPAISHA ABAICHE….AND I FEEL FOR MWANGENI AND NGONGA……… IF WADA AND CHEINGI HAD ALOT OF FAITH IN MWANGENI, THEY SHOULD HAVE GIVEN HIM THE OPPORTUNITY TO PLAY AGAINST NAMIBIA. WE HAD ALREADY QUALIFIED TO THE QUARTER FINALS..THEY SHOULD HAVE USED THAT MATCH TO GAUGE HIS PERFORMANCE AT ….AND TO HAND HIM THAT NEEDED INTERNATIONAL EXPOSURE. WADA NEEDED TO REST SILWIMBA WHO WAS ALREADY CARRYING A YELLOW CARD. ..BUT AGAIN, THEY BOTH LACK FOOTBALL MIND..
“It happens. Yes, because of the mistake he made we lost the game but it happens in football.” Aggrey Chiyangi.
This calibre of coach should not be anywhere near a national team coaching bench!
What bollocks…!!!
Comment:coach chiyangi,when a soccer team achieve any of the three results( win loss or draw) they do as a team ,you cant blame one mistake on an individual player.suppose he didn’t make that blunder ,what would va been the results since your strikers were goal shy.
Chicken was far much better than wada, in all honesty how do you play ur best defender who
is on yellow in a game whose results were not going to change the fact that we had already qualified to the next stage, then in a game that matters you try out? For me the young should supported, he is the future. Let Wada go he is not taking us anywhere, at rate we moving we might not make it to the nations cup.
Poor coaching as a coach, there is nowway in a million I would start inexperienced player in a knock out round stage. This shows how fooulish and none vision these Zambian coaches fail to take the team to the finals or qualify for the World cup. Losing to Sudan that shows and exposes mismanagement of resources. That money they spent sending the soccer team to Morroco, they would have used it to fund other projects.