Is Zambia keeping the goals for the Africa Cup?

The Zambian fans know what it is like to participate in the Africa Cup having watched their team take part in 15 finals this far. The team twice lost in the finals to Zaire as Congo DR was known in 1974 and 1994 against Nigeria. Despite the team’s triumph in last year’s finals, the fans are keeping their hopes low because of Zambia’s lacklustre performances since that famous win against Ivory Coast. 

The scoreless stalemate for Zambia in a practice match against Norway has not helped matters ahead of the Africa Cup tournament kicking off in South Africa on Saturday 19, January. Preparatory matches for a team often referred to as the Chipolopolo (Copper Bullets) have been far from impressive and “chaotic” in other words. Many soccer fans and pundits had hoped for a win against Norway to reinvigorate the waning euphoria that greeted the nation when the team won the Africa Cup last year but this was never to be. 

The people have reasons to be worried. The reigning African champions have not won a single match in all the friendlies that they have played so far, losing to Saudi Arabia (2-1), Tanzania (1-0), Angola (2-0) and drawing against Norway. The other source of concern is the team’s inability to score goals. From the time the team was crowned African champions, they have not scored more than two goals in a single match. These statistics have further aggravated the nation’s fears about their team’s ability or inability to defend the trophy.  

When team coach Herve Renard was asked whether he was worried about his team’s failure to put the ball behind the net after the Norway match. The French man gave a cheeky response, “we are keeping the goals for the Africa Cup”. Renard and his charges will have to prove this when they take on minnows Ethiopia in their opening match on Monday 21 in Johannesburg.  

There is some consolation though because a similar pattern of results was recorded before the nations cup in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. The other source of comfort is in the fact that Renard has retained 19 of the 23 players who took part in last year’s finals. Notable inclusions are Jacob Mulenga, the player who missed the tournament due to injury and a tournament debutant Mukuka Mulenga who was voted 2012 Zambian footballer of the year. These two players will add another dimension to the team that triumphed in Gabon and Mulenga might be a solution for Zambia in front of goals. Many players in the team are still unknown to the world but key midfield players like Rainford Kalaba, Nathan Sinkala and Chisamba Lungu have great individual skill capable of disturbing any defences in Africa. They showed this by ripping apart Ghana, Senegal and even Ivory Coast on their way to winning the trophy. 

Team captain, Christopher Katongo, the 2012 BBC African Footballer of the year will lead his peers when the team takes to the field in South Africa. In Emmanuel Mayuka, the top scorer at last year’s finals, Zambia can look to impress. He is one player you can choose to ignore at your own peril. Ask the Ghanaians, they will tell you what the Southampton FC striker is capable of doing. He broke the hearts of the Black Stars when he scored the deciding goal in the semi-finals of 2012 for Zambia to win the tie 1-0. The defence led by Stoppila Sunzu, the man who scored the deciding penalty in the final and Hichani Himonde is probably the best backline on the African continent. Sunzu is already attracting interests from top European teams and is currently in England finalising his pending move to Reading. Kennedy Mweene in goal is another star with plenty of experience in that area. 

There are good reasons also to be hopeful. South Africa is second home to Zambia as many of our players play or have played in that country in their careers. The team will therefore have more support from the the locals and Zambians based in that country. This group has also been together for a long time to understand each other well and deliver the positive results. In fact many of them are either playing together at TP Mazembe or at least meet every week during matches in South Africa. The team has also received adequate support from government and the corporate world; hence shading off worries about winning bonuses and upkeeps during the tournament.