SPORT - FOOTBALL
| 2013-07-22Zambia recoup Cosafa crown
Helge Schutz
ZAMBIA won the Cosafa Cup for the fourth time when they beat Zimbabwe 2-0 in the northern Zambian town of Ndola on Saturday afternoon.
Goals by Alex Ngonga and Kabaso Chongo sealed Zambia’s victory which saw them avenging their 3-1 defeat to Zimbabwe in the last Cosafa Cup final in 2009. With the victory Zambia also joined Zimbabwe with the most titles in the competition, just ahead of Angola and South Africa who each have three victories.
Playing in front of 38 000 ecstatic fans, Alex N’gonga gave Zambia an early lead after only four minutes when he swung in a freekick from the left wing.
Spurred on by their jubilant fans, dressed in the green and orange colours of ‘Chipolopolo’, Zambia surged ahead and striker Bornwell Mwape nearly added a second with a looping header that hit the bar.
Festus Mbewe also came close while winger Mukuka Mulenga had a shot tipped away for a corner after weaving his way past several defenders. As the match progressed, Zimbabwe started making their presence felt and nearly equalised through a cracking hot by Last Chibwiro, but Zambian keeper Danny Munyau brought off a stunning save. Munyau was in inspired form and also saved dangerous efforts from Nicholas Guyo and Masimba Mambare as Zambia went into halftime with a 1-0 lead.
The action continued unabated in the second half as the game opened up with fast paced attacks at both ends.
Zimbabwe’s keeper Mazwell Nyamupanedengu brought off a point blank save from a Mbewe header early on in the second half, while at the other end, Tendai Ndoro had a shot tipped for a corner. Zimbabwe pushed hard for the equaliser and nearly found it on 71 minutes when a powerful header by Ronald Chitiyo was brilliantly saved by Munyau.
But Zambia had the final say when Kabaso Chongo sealed their victory with a near identical goal to the first, as he swung in a freekick in injury time that eluded Nyamupanedengu and went high into the net. The goal sent Zambia’s fans wild with delight and brought down the curtain on an impressive Cosafa Cup tournament which once again took place after a four-year absence.
IMPRESSIVE RETURN
This time, Castle Breweries came on board as a headline sponsor, along with other sponsors like MTN and Mopani Copper Mines, while the Zambian government also played an important role in providing the necessary infrastructure and political will. “This tournament has achieved far more than we expected. All the actors have made this a huge success,” the president of Cosafa, Suketu Patel said at a press conference before the final.
The tournament had an inauspicious start as one of the guest nations Equatorial Guinea withdrew before the start, while South Africa’s squad was changed several times in a club versus country row that saw leading clubs like Orlando Pirates, Kaizer Chiefs and SuperSport United withdrawing their players. But once the tournament got underway it captured the imagination of the Zambian fans who turned out in large numbers to watch the 13 southern African nations in action in Lusaka, Kitwe and Ndola.
Fans were treated to attacking football as a total of 30 goals were scored during the group stages at an average of 3,3 per game, while 56 goals were scored in total, at just under 3 per game. According to the organisers, the tournament also had a large following with more than 80 000 Total Post Impressions on the official Cosafa website, while close to 10 000 articles appeared online and in the printed media.
There are however still problems, not least being the club-versus-country row which saw South Africa sending a weakened squad, while Angola also sent an under 23 squad.
Patel was however hopeful that the stature of the tournament will grow in the years to come. “As Cosafa we want the best teams to compete, but we cannot dictate to the countries what teams to choose. But people have now taken notice of Cosafa and I hope we will see the top players of the region competing here in future,” he said.
Goals by Alex Ngonga and Kabaso Chongo sealed Zambia’s victory which saw them avenging their 3-1 defeat to Zimbabwe in the last Cosafa Cup final in 2009. With the victory Zambia also joined Zimbabwe with the most titles in the competition, just ahead of Angola and South Africa who each have three victories.
Playing in front of 38 000 ecstatic fans, Alex N’gonga gave Zambia an early lead after only four minutes when he swung in a freekick from the left wing.
Spurred on by their jubilant fans, dressed in the green and orange colours of ‘Chipolopolo’, Zambia surged ahead and striker Bornwell Mwape nearly added a second with a looping header that hit the bar.
Festus Mbewe also came close while winger Mukuka Mulenga had a shot tipped away for a corner after weaving his way past several defenders. As the match progressed, Zimbabwe started making their presence felt and nearly equalised through a cracking hot by Last Chibwiro, but Zambian keeper Danny Munyau brought off a stunning save. Munyau was in inspired form and also saved dangerous efforts from Nicholas Guyo and Masimba Mambare as Zambia went into halftime with a 1-0 lead.
The action continued unabated in the second half as the game opened up with fast paced attacks at both ends.
Zimbabwe’s keeper Mazwell Nyamupanedengu brought off a point blank save from a Mbewe header early on in the second half, while at the other end, Tendai Ndoro had a shot tipped for a corner. Zimbabwe pushed hard for the equaliser and nearly found it on 71 minutes when a powerful header by Ronald Chitiyo was brilliantly saved by Munyau.
But Zambia had the final say when Kabaso Chongo sealed their victory with a near identical goal to the first, as he swung in a freekick in injury time that eluded Nyamupanedengu and went high into the net. The goal sent Zambia’s fans wild with delight and brought down the curtain on an impressive Cosafa Cup tournament which once again took place after a four-year absence.
IMPRESSIVE RETURN
This time, Castle Breweries came on board as a headline sponsor, along with other sponsors like MTN and Mopani Copper Mines, while the Zambian government also played an important role in providing the necessary infrastructure and political will. “This tournament has achieved far more than we expected. All the actors have made this a huge success,” the president of Cosafa, Suketu Patel said at a press conference before the final.
The tournament had an inauspicious start as one of the guest nations Equatorial Guinea withdrew before the start, while South Africa’s squad was changed several times in a club versus country row that saw leading clubs like Orlando Pirates, Kaizer Chiefs and SuperSport United withdrawing their players. But once the tournament got underway it captured the imagination of the Zambian fans who turned out in large numbers to watch the 13 southern African nations in action in Lusaka, Kitwe and Ndola.
Fans were treated to attacking football as a total of 30 goals were scored during the group stages at an average of 3,3 per game, while 56 goals were scored in total, at just under 3 per game. According to the organisers, the tournament also had a large following with more than 80 000 Total Post Impressions on the official Cosafa website, while close to 10 000 articles appeared online and in the printed media.
There are however still problems, not least being the club-versus-country row which saw South Africa sending a weakened squad, while Angola also sent an under 23 squad.
Patel was however hopeful that the stature of the tournament will grow in the years to come. “As Cosafa we want the best teams to compete, but we cannot dictate to the countries what teams to choose. But people have now taken notice of Cosafa and I hope we will see the top players of the region competing here in future,” he said.
