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Zambia’s coach still hopeful despite loss to Nigeria

By Editor
11 October 2016   |   3:38 am
Zambia’s Coach, Wedson Nyirenda, is still hopeful that the Chipolopolo will qualify for the Russia 2018 World Cup despite their 1-2 home loss to Nigeria at the weekend.
Wedson Nyirenda

Wedson Nyirenda

Zambia’s Coach, Wedson Nyirenda, is still hopeful that the Chipolopolo will qualify for the Russia 2018 World Cup despite their 1-2 home loss to Nigeria at the weekend.

Two first half goals by youngsters, Kelechi Iheanacho and Alex Iwobi, ensured that the Super Eagles left Ndola with the three points to make the task more daunting for Zambia, who are in a group that also contains Cameroun and Algeria.

Zambia will next travel to Cameroun to meet the Indomitable Lions before hosting Algeria in their third game.

Assuring his compatriots that all was not lost, Nyirenda said the Chipolopolo would regroup, count their losses and plan for the next matches, adding that every game has now assumed the status of a cup final.

“We did not expect to lose to Nigeria, but we knew it would be difficult to beat the star-studded Eagles. They have quality players with experience at the highest level and when we made mistakes they capitalised on them to score, while we lost many scoring chances.

“We have learnt valuable lessons from this game and we still have the chance to get things right and qualify.

“There are more points to fight for and we are going to regroup and try to get at least 10 points which can fetch us the ticket,” he said.

Nyirenda blamed Zambia’s loss to Nigeria on naivety and too much respect for the Eagles, saying, “some of the players were afraid of the Nigerians in the first half and could not play their games.

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