Zambia 1: Sudan 1: Disjointed Chipolopolo attack fails to fire against a time-wasting Sudan Introduction The Collins Mbesuma and Jacob Mulenga attacking combination failed to click to fire Chipolopolo within spitting distance of progressing to the next round of the Brazil 2014 World Cup Qualifiers. Herve Renard made three substitutions - all attacking options. Clearly the script was for Chipolopolo to attack right from the first whistle but a very clever Sudanese side frustrated Chipolopolo by defending in numbers and playing on the counter-attack. They had an added weapon of winding down the clock by play-acting and sadly the referee did not censure this conduct. Striking Options and formation Renard started with the same team that drubbed Lesotho 4 – 0 last week. The only change was in goal where Mweene came in for Danny Munyau. The decision by the coach to maintain the same team that started against Lesotho was quite surprising because Zambia ended that match quite strongly with the changes the coach made. For example, it was surprising that Fwayo Tembo did not start considering how strongly he ended the game against Lesotho. The Coach opted to play Chisamba Lungu as attacking midfielder on the left instead of Noah Chivuta. Chisamba made a number of inroads into the Lesotho territory and caused a few anxious moments in the first half. Christopher Katongo was not as penetrative on the right flank. Despite balls coming from the wings and in the middle through Mukuka Mulenga, Collins Mbesuma and Jacob Mulenga could not just hold onto the ball or combine to create clear scoring opportunities. The same problem of the strikers failing to hold the ball and bringing others into play continued dogging Zambia today as it had done against Lesotho. Worse still, Collins Mbesuma was lethargic and kept losing possession of the ball. Jacob Mulenga had better movement today and was dangerous with the aerial balls. Mukuka Mulenga was full of bottle in the midfield creative role and supported the attackers quite well. He pushed the ball forward every time he was in possession. Chipolopolo’s undoing in the first half was the lack of urgency in finishing off chances created. Mbesuma’s touches and passes were casual and he was rightfully substituted in the second stanza. Jacob Mulenga was an aerial menace throughout the game but with the ball at his feet was unable to be productive. Christopher Katongo should have buried a Chisamba Lungu cross in the first half with a gaping goal in front of him after a goal mouth melee but contrived to miss. Effect of Chipolopolo’s substitutions Fwayo Tembo’s coming on at the start of the second half changed the game as he put in good crosses and cut inside to join attack allowing more variation in attack and opening up the Sudanese James Chamanga came on for Mbesuma and had some of the clearest chances two of which he criminally missed! Chamanga is good at creating chances for himself and others in advanced areas of attack but he has to work on his finishing. Emmanuel Mayuka also made an appearance and was intent on getting forward. Conclusion With the clock winding down, Chipolopolo started to panic in attack and became hasty. Sudan held their ground and defended in numbers. The time-wasting antics of the Sudanese went unpunished by the referee. The unsportsmanship conduct exhibited by Sudan of continuously falling over at the slightest touch was a sad spectacle to behold and referees need to work hard to help uproot this tendency from the African game. newafricanfootball
Posted on: Sat, 15 Jun 2013 21:22:29 +0000
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