Zambia Under 23 on Thursday night failed to break their eight-year jinx against Cameroon Under 23 at the All-Africa Games when they lost 2-1 in the two side’s semifinal clash at this year’s football tournament in Algeria.
The two sides were locked at 0-0 going into the break before Cameroon struck with two quick goals in a space of ten minutes just after the restart.
Franck Njembe headed Cameroon ahead on 50 minutes before Christian Bekamenga slotted in the ball from the penalty spot six minutes later.
Simon Bwalya scored Zambia’s consolation two minutes deep into injury time.
Zambia will now face Tunisia in the battle for Bronze on Sunday, July 22 while Cameroon while take on Guinea in a West Africa derby final for Gold or Silver on Monday.
Guinea beat Tunisia 1-0 in their semifinal clash also played on Thursday
Cameroon are the All-Africa Games football tournament defending champions while this will be Guinea’s first final appearance in the tournament since 1973 when they lost 2-0 to Nigeria.
Nshishibe ba Zambia ngatukawinapo. May be my generation will pass. lyonse kulusa mpaka tuleipailamo nabantu ngatwawinako fye umuku umo!!!!!!!!1
When Ivory Coast, qualified for the 2006 World Cup last week President Laurent Gbagbo presented each member of the Elephants squad with a house worth $52,000. He also honoured them with the country’s most prestigious award. Often victory comes with handsome rewards, but losing a football match can sometimes be a matter of life and death: coaches get sacked, players are threatened and fans get injured or even lose their lives.
What incentives do the boys get to motivate them.
The Zambia under 20 qualified and did exceptionally well at the Cup finals in Canada (notice they scored in every game and went through the preliminary rounds). The under 23 are (at the time of this email) still with a chance of a bronze while the African Champions (Egypt) do not have any such chance and the “official” terrors of this region (RSA) have been equally dispatched.
Yes we did not win the cups and we have yet to win anything notable. But by jeez, our teams did very well. PERIOD. Give the boys a voice of cheer. Encourage them to do more next time. Dispel any negativity. I believe we shall overcome some day. I _really_ do believe. Nuff said!
Tunisia beat Zambia 1-0 to win the bronze medal for the men’s tournament on Sunday.Well done boys(Zambia) considering that Zambia is not Africa’s number one.