adminmeeting to review the performance of Chipolopolo and decided to part ways with their Italian coach Dario Bonetti
FAZ president Kalusha Bwalya said the decision was taken by mutual consent and he told SuperSport.com that: “Though the team has qualified, there’s still more that the team can give. The team has more potential than that.”
“We will go back to the drawing board, consult with stakeholders and make necessary changes in due course.”
Bwalya also believes qualification for the African Cup of Nations finals will always be difficult with the emergence of stronger African opposition, and he hails Zambia’s team for getting the ticket
Kalusha, who is also president of the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ), said: “We take our hearts out to the boys. They won four games, drew one and lost just one game to finish top of their group.”
“Our target was to get to Afcon. I have said to the boys that 90 percent of them had been to Afcon 2006, 2008 and 2010. It is a marathon. I congratulate them.”
He believes the next logical step for the Football Association of Zambia is to look at how the team can make a huge impact at the tournament.
“Though we have qualified, the Zambian people feel the team has a lot more to offer.
“We have to go back and see what we need to do. We’ll take a look actually at the technical bench,” he said.
Zambian secured automatic qualification for the next African Cup of Nations coming up in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea in January and February 2012 after drawing 0-0 with Libya to top their group.
Meanwhile, only two of the six 2010 World Cup qualifiers from Africa will be in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea next January for the Cup of Nations with Nigeria blaming a faith healer and South Africa the head-to-head rule for missing out.
Ghana, eliminated by Uruguay after a quarter-final shoot-out, and neighbours Ivory Coast made it while Algeria, Cameroon, Nigeria and the first African World Cup hosts South Africa fell by the wayside.
The Black Stars of Ghana were impressive 2-0 away winners over Sudan in a near 40-degree Celsius Omdurman furnace as the 14-month qualifying competition drew to a close at the weekend and 14 teams survived to join the co-hosts. Ivory Coast finished with the only perfect record by snatching a stoppage-time 2-1 victory over Burundi thanks to a goal from Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure, whose older brother Kolo had opened the scoring in Abidjan.
West Bromwich Albion midfielder Osaze Odemwingie said the predictions of a leading faith healer had unnerved Nigeria ahead of a dramatic 2-2 draw with Guinea, who levelled at the death to top the table and rob Nigeria of a slot as one of the best runners-up.
Pastor TB Joshua foresaw last weekend during a church service that the Super Eagles would not make the Cup of Nations for the first time since 1998, when they were suspended for failing to defend the title two years earlier because of political differences with South Africa.
“The prediction of Prophet TB Joshua really affected us,” admitted Odemwingie, who has lost his goal touch in the English Premier League and struggled against Guinea until being booed off the field when substituted.
Confusion reigned after South Africa were held 0-0 at home by Sierra Leone – a modest team they have neither beaten nor scored against in four meetings – with players mistakenly celebrating qualification from a group lowest ranked Niger won.
“Did we qualify? What do you think? If we have qualified I am very happy. I don’t know,” coach Pitso Mosimane told the South African Broadcasting Corporation, who heightened the confusion by telling South Africans that Bafana Bafana (The Boys) had won the group.
South African officials reacted to the shock by lodging an appeal with the organisers, but the action was dismissed yesterday as a “stunt” by the Johannesburg Star and seems certain to fail as the head-to-head rule has been successfully applied in African competitions for many years.
A blogger summed up the feelings of many disillusioned South African football supporters when he tweeted: “If we cannot defeat Sierra Leone at home we do not deserve to qualify for the African Cup of Nations.”
The failures of Algeria and Cameroon came as less of a shock as they struggled from the outset in the 11-group competition with the North Africans dropping five points in their opening two games and ending third in a group won by Morocco despite two changes of coach.
Cameroon were held at home by the Democratic Republic of Congo and then took just one point from a possible six against eventual table-toppers Senegal so record four-time African Footballer of the Year Samuel Eto’o will be a notable absentee when the Cup of Nations is screened worldwide.
So will the ageing stars of Egypt like goalkeeper Essam al-Hadary, midfielder Mohamed Aboutreika and striker Mohamed Zidan as the country that won the last three tournaments and a record seven overall came bottom of their group.
Apart from the co-hosts who are guaranteed places, Angola, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Libya, Mali, Morocco, Niger, Senegal, Sudan, Tunisia and Zambia have booked places and an
October 29 draw in Malabo will divide them into four pools. – AFP.
Online Reporter