Lusaka, Zambia, 07April: The Zambia women national soccer team coach Albert Kachinga has refused to wave a white flag despite his side 1-0 loss to Zimbabwe in the first leg last round qualifier encounter of Cameroun 2016 Africa Women Nations Cup.
Kachinga declared that his side will fight tooth and nail to secure qualification to Cameroun when the two sides slug it out in the return leg encounter at Nkoloma Stadium in Lusaka this Sunday.
“It’s [qualification which is] very important [to us].We can’t let Zimbabwe go to the Africa Cup and then Olympics, we can’t allow them to do that.
“It’s not game over, we still have another 90 minutes to play in Zambia, and so we will see how it goes. It’s on Sunday so definitely we have to put everything [into the game],” declared Kachinga.
His assistant Kape Saili said the Shepolopolo side has chances to sail through to Cameroun finals because Wednesday loss to Mighty Warriors was by slender margin and they can turn the tables on their opponents in Lusaka.
“We may have lost by slender margin today and safe to say we are down but not out. The girls gave their all, played their lungs out, at the end that is football,” said Saili.
The Might Warriors sole goal was netted in the dying minutes of the first half by striker Kudakwashe Bhasopo.
However, Shepolopolo mentor conceded that his team lost the first leg encounter because it lost concentration towards the end of the first half.
“We just went to sleep for a few seconds, it was in added time to half-time and we were thinking that maybe it was game over. So that’s how we lost it. I think it was just lack of concentration,” observed Kachinga.
Nonetheless, he did not have kind words for match official from Cameroun Therese Neguel who was in charge of the game accusing her of showing biasness towards their hosts.
“The referee did not impress me at all. She was biased in many cases because all the decisions were going against my team which I felt was not in the spirit of fair play,” said Kachinga.
He appealed to match officials to always strive for impartiality warning that failure to do that would lead to dwindling in standards of the game on the continent.
“Officials need to improve, officials have to improve, if we keep on having such kind of referees then I am sorry the game will not improve in Africa,” he warned.
His counterpart Shadreck Mlauzi was satisfied with the overall performance of his charges especially for managing to keep a clean sheet against a determined Shepolopolo side.
“What we wanted to avoid was that scenario where we conceded an away goal. So at the end of the day we are happy we did not concede,” said Mlauzi.
But he observed that the return leg encounter at Nkoloma Stadium in Lusaka on Sunday will be a different affair as such his team will not just rest on the laurels but put every effort to get the positive result.
“So going away again it’s going to be a very different ball game all together. We are not going to sit back, we are still going to search for a goal and hopefully consolidate what we have done here,” he declared.
Nevertheless, Mlauzi observed Zambia was a different side in game style as compared with Tanzania which they booted out in the first round to reach the current stage.
“They gave us a different style as compared to the Tanzanian side. They were predominantly a physical side; they play direct football, so we will be able to deal with it from here on.
But to attain that Mlauzi said his team which has already qualified for qualify for 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games in Brazil will have to strike balance on offensive and defence to get a ticket to Cameroun.
“It’s about that balance between attack and defence.I think our approach on the day really is centered on [us] having the right balance between defence and attack. At the same time, making sure that we don’t sit back because as we saw they are a direct side,” explained Mlauzi.
During the Rufaro Stadium Zimbabwe Mighty Warriors reportedly struggled during most of the first half and they were slow on the ball. But they (Zimbabwe) changed performance after scoring the lone goal.
The Shepolopolo tried to fight back to level the matters but their efforts did not pay any dividends.
“It’s [qualification which is] very important [to us].We can’t let Zimbabwe go to the Africa Cup and then Olympics, we can’t allow them to do that.
“It’s not game over, we still have another 90 minutes to play in Zambia, and so we will see how it goes. It’s on Sunday so definitely we have to put everything [into the game],” declared Kachinga.
His assistant Kape Saili said the Shepolopolo side has chances to sail through to Cameroun finals because Wednesday loss to Mighty Warriors was by slender margin and they can turn the tables on their opponents in Lusaka.
“We may have lost by slender margin today and safe to say we are down but not out. The girls gave their all, played their lungs out, at the end that is football,” said Saili.
The Might Warriors sole goal was netted in the dying minutes of the first half by striker Kudakwashe Bhasopo.
However, Shepolopolo mentor conceded that his team lost the first leg encounter because it lost concentration towards the end of the first half.
“We just went to sleep for a few seconds, it was in added time to half-time and we were thinking that maybe it was game over. So that’s how we lost it. I think it was just lack of concentration,” observed Kachinga.
Nonetheless, he did not have kind words for match official from Cameroun Therese Neguel who was in charge of the game accusing her of showing biasness towards their hosts.
“The referee did not impress me at all. She was biased in many cases because all the decisions were going against my team which I felt was not in the spirit of fair play,” said Kachinga.
He appealed to match officials to always strive for impartiality warning that failure to do that would lead to dwindling in standards of the game on the continent.
“Officials need to improve, officials have to improve, if we keep on having such kind of referees then I am sorry the game will not improve in Africa,” he warned.
His counterpart Shadreck Mlauzi was satisfied with the overall performance of his charges especially for managing to keep a clean sheet against a determined Shepolopolo side.
“What we wanted to avoid was that scenario where we conceded an away goal. So at the end of the day we are happy we did not concede,” said Mlauzi.
But he observed that the return leg encounter at Nkoloma Stadium in Lusaka on Sunday will be a different affair as such his team will not just rest on the laurels but put every effort to get the positive result.
“So going away again it’s going to be a very different ball game all together. We are not going to sit back, we are still going to search for a goal and hopefully consolidate what we have done here,” he declared.
Nevertheless, Mlauzi observed Zambia was a different side in game style as compared with Tanzania which they booted out in the first round to reach the current stage.
“They gave us a different style as compared to the Tanzanian side. They were predominantly a physical side; they play direct football, so we will be able to deal with it from here on.
But to attain that Mlauzi said his team which has already qualified for qualify for 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games in Brazil will have to strike balance on offensive and defence to get a ticket to Cameroun.
“It’s about that balance between attack and defence.I think our approach on the day really is centered on [us] having the right balance between defence and attack. At the same time, making sure that we don’t sit back because as we saw they are a direct side,” explained Mlauzi.
During the Rufaro Stadium Zimbabwe Mighty Warriors reportedly struggled during most of the first half and they were slow on the ball. But they (Zimbabwe) changed performance after scoring the lone goal.
The Shepolopolo tried to fight back to level the matters but their efforts did not pay any dividends.
By: Joel Chirwa
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