Mon, 12 Dec 2016 12:30:57 +0000
By Bennie Mundando
ZAMBIA U-20 yesterday surged into the semi-finals at the on-going Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA) with a resounding 3-0 victory over Malawi to lead group B on a maximum six points in a match played at the Moruleng Stadium.
Both teams started cautiously with most of the action concentrated in the midfield as Malawi opted for a defensive approach to the game. The open exchanges were full of stoppages with fouls characterising both teams.
But the tide changed after 20 minutes as both teams settled and started finding spaces to shoot at goal but it was Zambia who found the back of the net through Chrispine Sakulanda when he surged forward, took advantage of the space created in between by the defenders, and slot the ball beyond the reach of Malawi goalkeeper Christopher Mikuwa with 25 minutes played.
After Zambia scored, Malawi coach Gerald Phiri withdrew Mphatso Magaleta and introduced Frank Chizuze and the substitution seemed to be effective as the Junior Flames launched an attack three minutes later through Franscisco Madinga but the striker sky-rocketed his shot off-target.
Malawi continued piling pressure on Zambia as Mangani Banda was forced into a smart save on 34 minutes when Kennedy Kachimanga surged forward before releasing a shot on target.
Malawi could have restored parity towards the end of the first half but Hadji Wali’s poorly taken shot was easily picked up by Banda to keep the opponents at bay and end the first half with a 1-0 lead.
After the break, Zambia went for goals as Fashion Sakala, Patson Daka and Sakulanda became a constant threat as they continued piling pressure on the opponents but were not clinical in front of goal as several chances went begging due to sheer lack of communication and precision.
Coach Beston Chambeshi was then forced to make a double substitution and introduced Kenneth Kalunga and Harrison Chisala for Edward Chilufya and Enock Mwepu respectively at the hour-mark.
Chisala almost scored four minutes after being introduced but Mikuwa thwarted the danger to maintain the score-line.
However, Mikuwa could do nothing to stop Daka from grabbing his second of the tournament when he tapped in Sakala’s searching pass into the area to double the advantage for the Junior Chipolopolo.
Sakala then made it 3-0 for Zambia four minutes to full-time when Sakulanda turned provider for the Zanaco striker to stab home the winner. And speaking after emerging man of the match, Sakulanda said he was impressed that the team played according to the coach’s instructions and that the team was determined to lift the trophy.
“I feel very happy that I enjoyed the game. We played according to the instructions of the coach. It was a winning game and so, we had to put in more effort. We are aiming to win the COSFA. There are many challenges on the way but all we have to do is to remain focussed by winning all the remaining matches,” Sakulanda said.
