By MICHAEL MIYOBA
BOTSWANA crushed Zambia’s dream of qualifying for the Africa Cup of Nations after beating the Copper Bullets 1-0 in a Group-H fixture played yesterday at the Obed Chilume Stadium in Francis Town.
A sixth minute lone goal from striker Mosha Goaloalwe gave Botswana their first win which propelled them back to third position with four points while Zambia relegated to bottom.
Despite having hard a decent share of ball possession in Botswana, the Chipolopolo led by coach Milutin “Micho” Sredojevic failed to get a win which would have redeemed Zambia’s hopes of qualifying for the AFCON.
Zambia had created numerous scoring chances in both halves of the game but were not clinical enough to get a goal.
The Chipolopolo’s first real chance to get the equaliser came in the 33rd minute when Fashion Sakala’s free kick whizzed on the edge of the post.
Zambia’s search for an equaliser continued in the second half with captain Lubambo Musonda getting close to scoring a leveller in the 58th minute before he was substituted.
With the Chipolopolo struggling to get the equaliser “Micho” introduced Gampani Lungu, Justin Shonga and Bruce Musakanya for Lubambo Musonda, Collins Sikombe and Klings Kangwa respectively.
The substitutes made little impact as Zambia failed to get the equalszer with Fashion Sakala hitting the cross bar in the 84th minute as Botswana held on to win 1-0.
It was sweet revenge for the Zebras who were beaten 2-1 by Zambia in a match day three fixture played on Thursday at National Heroes Stadium in Lusaka.
With three defeats and one loss in the qualifiers, Zambia remain stuck on three points, seven points behind group leaders Algeria who were held 2-2 by second-placed Zimbabwe yesterday in Harare.
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