Herve Renard says Zambia will cope in Kumasi despite a turbulent last 48 hours en route for Friday’s big World Cup qualifier showdown against The Black Stars.
Zambia on Friday face their biggest test on the road to Brazil when they attempt to pick up their first away win in the Group D qualifiers that will hand them a place in the final super 10 playoff round that kick off in October.
Herve Renard’s side has drawn away to Lesotho last March and lost to Sudan in June, 2012 before that result in Khartoum was erased after the latter used an ineligible player in that qualifier.
How Zambia will adopt after a grueling 48 hour delay following two chaotic departure delays in Johannesburg and Lusaka will be interesting to witness.
Zambia has barely trained and upon arrival in Kumasi on Thursday could not train from the match venue due to ‘security concerns’ by the host country.
“It has been a difficult trip during the last few days. It’s our fault we came late, but we will cope,” Renard said in Accra upon arrival.
“We have no option than to win. We have to win, and the venue doesn’t matter.
“There is a difference in the quality of players, and where they are playing. When big names play for each other and are united, you always are the favourites.”
Meanwhile, Zambia come into the game limping with no shows for key strikers Jacob Mulenga and Collins Mbesuma due to injury and who have scored three and two goals respectively in the Group D qualifiers.
However, very little has been said about midfielder Rainford Kalaba who has suffered from poor form in Zambia’s last two games.
Kalaba has enjoyed a resurgent of form at Mazembe and last Sunday secured a 1-0 win for DR Congo giants in a 2013 CAF Confederation Cup Group B win over CA Bizertin of Tunisia with a late breathtaking solo goal that saw him beat four players.
Will this be the match that Kalaba announces his return and send Zambia to the super 10?
We will only know at 20:00 Zambian time on September 6.
Lets go Zambia ! We can wire the fufu guys at home.18 more hours to go.Mwela onse !!!!
Haha… Today Ghana will enjoy fufu well well in Kumasi thanks to Zambia
Iye chipolopolo….. iye iye iye chipolopolo
I watched a clip on tumfweko.com of the boys training in the car park with Ghanaian fans mocking them openly with minimum security, after Ghana FA officials locked the stadium, switched off the lights and stopped Zambia training.
Oh my God… Really? am worried for our boys, whether win or loose i just pray they make it home safely, i dont trust these Ghanians.
I’m so much disappointed in Zambians. Anyway, I now understand why Zambians have become localized people without being able to achieve anything international. You are lazy, incompetent, lack planning and disrespect time. In this 21st century you guys cannot go anywhere if you don’t start doing things right and stop blaming everyone for your problems.
The major reason we will beat Ghana at home. This will show them that stupidity doesn’t pay.
We’ve no problem with fire power upfront, if the coach understands his combinations well. Forget everything else, here’s one match that should take us through… So let’s win it.
For Zambia to beat Ghana,the Heavens and the earth have to met!
and so shall the heavens and the earth, as you put it “met”!!
Ba Makaveli whatever the hell you call yourself, Zambia beat Ghana twice in one year. Your reasoning is senseless
Ghana are just a batch of frightened team. How could they deny Chipolopolo the use of the actual play ground. Part of “heaven and earth” strategy, I presume(?)
And I understand why Zambians have become local people without being able to achieve any international accord. You are lazy, incompetent, lack planning and disrespect time. In this 21st century you guys cannot go anywhere if you don’t start doing things right and stop blaming everyone for your problems.
The major reason we will beat Ghana at home. This will show them that stupidity doesn’t pay.
You seem to live in your own elution!!!! Come rain, come sunshine, we will beat Ghana again and again!!!!
Yestade Zambia was training in a concrete car park after Ghana officials closed the stadium and switched off lights. Were is FIFA? African football at its best?
Iwe chi makaveli leka ifyo!!
Ghanian are feeling the heat, they are shaking . They will try to do all sort of things to frustrates the Chipolopolo boys. Makaveli foolish you
In God we trust. Football is a game played 90 minutes, and such even Ghana is aware of the trouble lying ahead of tonight’s game. Chances are on our side. Go Zambia Go.
Ba Oreily Malambo why should God favour you even Ghanaians are also god fearing? Let be serious
Chipolopolo will assert their authority today. They will make us all happy the way they did on 12/2/12 when they walloped star studded teams from the jungles of west africa and book themselves a ticket to Brazil.
No Sir, book a ticket to the play offs. That’s what this game is all about, qualifying for the play off’s.
Nalelo ye ba Tembo ba wina, nalelo ye ba Zambia ba wina …
I hope our boys will vent their anger of ill treatment by these uncivilised monsters on the pitch. Zambia already lost an entire team because of these barbaric tactics. Football can be played another day but life cannot be replaced. I hope FIFA will step in and punish them for their hostility.
Sometimes the people who try to call other persons “uncivilized & barbaric” can be measured just by their utterances. The world is globalised and when you take to Internet to vent your spleen, you only need to be careful as it speaks a lot of you and how you understand how the Internet works. It’s just football after all and you are throwing tantrums. Mind your language on the Internet if you call your self “civilized”
It’s now clear now even Nigerian’s look down on Ghanaian’s. There so uncivilized to the core.
We will beat them and immediately leave to come and cerebrate back in our motherland Zambia. Iye chipolopolo
we are praying to God for the victory.
I’m off to the stadium to see the crucifixion of Chipolopolo. The stories you are been fed by your guys in Ghana are false and a grand scheme to make excuse WHEN you lose. Blame your FA for the abysmal arrangement of your travel & arriving very late in Accra before traveling by road for four hours to Kumasi. Your FA must be held responsible and your defeat has been prepared by them. I hope they acted in the interest of Zambia not Ghana but as it looks, they are playing to our interest.
Do you have any blogging sites in your backward Country???? Go blog there!!!
We will beat the hell out of you AGAIN and AGAIN!!!!
Yes, our FA will be held responsible for the travel debacle, but your Ghanaian FA’s barbaric treatment of our team cannot go without critism. Even if the team arrived late for the training session, there is ABSOLUTELY no reason to lock them out of the facility. Your FA was aware the team arrived in Kumasi late that day, so why not, in the interest of sportmanship, avail the team the opportunity to train at a later time? What would it cost the Ghanaian FA to leave the facility open for another 1 – 2 hours? The only logical reason for denying the team access is to create an unfair advantage for your team PERIOD.
zambia 1 v 0 fi ghana
Bring it on Zambia!!! Today is the day! You have had your say, and your little hope and fantasies will crush today. We are not 4 times African Champions for nothing. Our boys don’t get the chance to play in the big European Leagues for nothing. We have thoroughly earned our name as African football giants and deservedly. We don’t countenance on complacency as your boys became for winning just 1 African Trophy. The Babayara Sports Stadium will roar today and I hope your boys don’t hide. 3-0
The Last time you where Africa Champions Blackberry’s we on growing on trees.
You have nothing to show from the 2 times you’ve been at the World Cups. It’s now time for Chipolopolo to shine and show the world in Brazil Zambian soccer…..
Go Chipolopolo, Go……..
FIFA has no say in this .Every away team is given the chance to train at a certain time.You missed that so why blame the Ghana officials.Your coach even admitted it was your fault for arriving late.The field will do the talking in Kumasi.Enough respect to Zambia but you ain’t taking this from us.Watch out..We won’t be using any unqualified players so FIFA can grant you another free three points
Better shame them! Play a frustrating game. Give them the pressure! But anyway key scorers absence is an issue!
Their inyangas spent two days of conducting night vigils at the stadium>
The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is with Chipolopolo. No amount of Evil will succeed.
Let’s go Zambia, Let’s go!!!!!!!!!
@P-Jay
Zambians are lazy: This is a fallacy to satisfy ones ego, we are 13 million, how can an internationally self-acclaimed quack judge us that we are localized and lazy? When did this internationally self-acclaimed quack do his research? Just because you are close to Europe and you are able to sneak there and do dogs jobs does not make one international. We are not ashamed as Zambians to be in Zambia and be local, to us being local is a complement we shall always cherish! We boast of KK our first president who is still being kept by God and the internationally Aclaimed people killed their heroes…what evil goes with the Internationally Aclaimees!!! 2013, the Copper Bullet short down the Black Star from the sky and short 8 bullets to the that huge elephant and crowned African…
The unfortunate item for the Black Stars is that the game will be played on the same pitch – its not like the star will be on the best one and the bullet on rocks – let them revisit the game between Libya and the Bullet in 2013 Africa Cup – whilst Libya was seriously playing the game the Bullet was playing, visibly with joy as they showed their ball-joggling skills.
Looking at the array of harsh comments on this blog, I just realized it has a moderator. Hahaha…
my predictions;
ghana 1 , zambia 0
zambia will have a goal disallowed, if its allowed then it will end one – one
You see, I wonder why the Zambian FA would stoop so low and expected to drag the Ghana FA in line with its crude tactics that were unbefitting for modern day soccer! Why did the Zambian FA belittle itself and the entire Zambian team to that level? Ghana and for that matter the Black Stars and the Ghana FA are more enlightened and professional in world soccer! The best thing the Ghana FA could do was to refuse itself into being dragged into such unacceptable behavior put up by the Zambian FA! Here are the facts;
1. Kumasi airport is not an international airport and as such, doesn’t receive international aircrafts. So the point being made to the effect that it was an approach to frustrate the Zambian football team to fly directly from Zambia to Kumasi doesn’t wash! In any case, advance…
notice was given to the Zambian FA by the Aviation Authorities of Ghana to this effect but the Zambian FA decided to behave like children and created their own rules to follow! For all you care, Ghana is a lawful country and doesn’t tolerate indiscipline!
2. Per FIFA rules, a visiting team ought to train before the host team. Hence, the GFA kindly allotted 16GMT as time for the Zambian team to train on the turf of the stadium. For reasons best known to the Zambian team, they refused to turn up and waited till the stadium was closed in the hours of 18:30GMT and requested that they be allowed into the stadium by the stadium authorities. Why should any serious team wanting to appear in the World Cup for the first time be unserious like this? Yes, the Zambian team was disallowed entry into…
the stadium for not obeying FIFA rules and regulations! Don’t forget, the Ghana FA strictly applied the law governing World Football! Make no mistake, Ghana is more advanced when it comes to applying rules and regulations. But hear yourselves once again and be serious, how can one security man and about five supporters from Zambia keep the allegedly hostile fans of Ghana at bay? For the records and as per the rules all the time, sufficient security was offered the Zambian FA and the team even when they chose to train on the asphalt outside the stadium! This is barbaric!!
As far as I am concerned, the Zambian FA owes a lot of explanations to the Zambian people and the entire nation in that they had done harm than good to the entire citizenry. I sincerely believe that the Chipolopolos are…
sponsored from the State coffers and if that is so, the good people of Zambia must query the Zambian FA why they presented themselves in such a behavior unbefitting a nation like Zambia! I still respect Zambia as a nation and a peaceful one as such but I am of the conviction that a few greedy personalities at the helm of affairs in the Zambian FA sought to soil and destroy the highly cherished and enviable reputation of Zambia as a nation!