… eight-year wait over as Chipolopolo seal Afcon qualification
The Chipolopolo who had a strong defence led by 2012 AFCON winner Stoppila Sunzu had two shots on goal and no shot on target in the first half but where able to find the back of the net on the half hour mark thanks to Serge.
The Ivorian defender tried to clear Emmanuel Banda’s defence splitting pass on the edge of the box, but the ball deflected off the goalkeeper Ayayi.
In the second half, the Chipolopolo boys looked more determined than the visitors and doubled the lead in the 47th minute thanks to the Leicester City forward.
Daka took advantage of Simon Deli and Eric Bailly’s failure to clear the ball in the danger zone.
The Leicester City striker snatched the ball before Ayayi could get hold of it and slid it into an empty net to give Zambia a 2-0 lead.
Seven minutes later, midfielder Kangwa made things worse for the Elephants when he scored the third goal to end Ivory Coast’s unbeaten run and claim leadership of Group H with 12 points, two points ahead of the visitors who dropped to second.
Zambia qualified for the AFCON ahead of Lesotho and Comoros Islands who by press time where involved in a goalless draw yesterday at Orlando Stadium in South Africa.
The sweet win over Ivory Coast maintained Avram Grant’s 100 percent winning record as Chipolopolo gaffer having picked back to back wins over Lesotho in the last two sets of qualifiers played in March.
It was sweet revenge for the Zambian fans who had filled Levy Mwanawasa Stadium to the rafters after they watched their boys lose 3-1 to Ivory Coast in the first group H first played in June last year.
Author
