In addition to just blowing the vuvuzela and wearing the green and copper branded Chipolopolo regalia, the Zambian soccer fan should also take a bit of time to reflect on what has happened this year, particularly in the 2013 AFCON and the CHAN and World Cup qualifiers. What lessons do these events offer?
1. Our team has been experiencing free fall since the 2012 AFCON victory but we have been in denial. All our group opponents at the 2013 AFCON (Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Ethiopia) have qualified to the next round of the Brazil 2014 World Cup qualifiers. The status of our team has accordingly been confirmed.
2. Zambia failed to win a single match in the just ended World Cup qualifying round. We lost 0-2 and 1-2 to Sudan and Ghana respectively and drew 1-1 in Lesotho. This pattern speaks to some deeper problem which needs to be addressed.
3. But even after benefiting from some free boardroom points, Zambia failed to win on the pitch at the next opportunity in Lesotho and at home when Sudan visited for the return fixture. The history of this country has many examples that teach us that free things have little or no value. It was sad to watch the excitement that greeted the award of free points from FIFA and how we wished FIFA or indeed CAF continued to award us the same at the 2012 edition of the AFCON and most recently in the loss to Zimbabwe in the CHAN qualifier.
4. Through this and other recent events, we are gaining an unfortunate reputation of rushing to FIFA for any small little thing. Apart from subtracting from our numerous achievements over the years, the behaviour of rushing to FIFA all the time, has the potential to shatter our self confidence, never mind the positive attitude required in the sport.
5. The way authorities handled the ‘so called’ mistreatment at the hands of the Ghanaians is embarrassing to say the least. It seems the way we conduct our domestic politics is beginning to have negative effects on the management of our game. It is very clear that the innocent (and often not well informed) ordinary Zambian soccer fan was targeted for a lot of misinformation in the recent Ghana Vs Zambia match. We blamed Ghana for things that had roots in our own disorganisation. Nobody educated our public about FIFA rules regarding access (by the visiting team) to the venue of the match on the eve just like nobody explained the real reason we failed to travel on Wednesday and what effect this had on our failure to access the Baba Yara Stadium on Thursday evening. Instead, we saw deliberate efforts to mislead the Zambian public by people who knew the truth.
6. But assuming there was genuine mistreatment inflicted on our people by the Ghanaians, was this not expected? How many times have we experienced this in the past? Do we mean to say we have not come up with ways to deal with such after all the experience we have gathered over the years? What role did the advance party play in ensuring smooth arrival and stay of the team and officials? What about our mission in that part of West Africa? There must obviously be a very good reason why our authorities chose to deliberately mislead us.
7. Finally, you will remember that prior to this year’s AFCON, the coach kept on assuring us that the goals would come in the tournament even when all friendly matches leading to the tournament failed to yield the desired milestones that would indicate positive team progress. After our opening fixture against Ethiopia, he continued assuring us that goals would come in the Nigeria game, they didn’t. He did not stop there, he still assured that goals would come in the Burkina Faso match and they still didn’t. Next, instead of addressing the poor showing at the tourney, he pounced on CAF for not allowing us to represent Africa in the 2013 Confederations Cup in Brazil using his famous ‘we are not sexy enough’ phrase. This attack seemed to have done the magic! The coach was let off the hook at this point because he attacked a ‘common enemy’ to him and us all – an extremely clever way to deal with the Zambian public. The coach had managed to divert everybody’s attention away from the performance of the team and towards a meaningless political issue.
In general, the Zambian team was already tired by the time we embarked on the AFCON this year. Nothing much could or can be expected from this team whose spine has served us for the best part of nine years. This team has been in need of fresh legs for a very long time. Maybe now, this will be granted.
This article was sourced from Patrick Zunga, a contributor to Zambia Reports
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