Zambia trump SA in Cosafa Cup
Brad Morgan
15 August 2005
A Bafana Bafana team, minus players from six clubs - Mamelodi Sundowns, Orlando Pirates, Ajax Cape Town, Silver Stars, Golden Arrows and Dynamos - was eliminated by Zambia in the semifinals of the Cosafa Castle Cup on the weekend, but only after a nail-biting penalty shootout.
Coach Stuart Baxter found, as has become commonplace nowadays, that the international team had to play second fiddle to the club teams that were in action over the weekend. He opted to include only two overseas-based players in his squad, Matthew Booth and Siyabonga Nomvete, while seven Supersport United players were called up for the clash.
Ultimately, Italian-based Nomvete failed to pitch, which delayed the naming of the Bafana Bafana line-up until shortly before the game.
Early on, the Zambian team was first to launch a meaningful attack, but Linos Chalwe declined to shoot when confronted by SA goalkeeper Rowen Fernandez, when a shot would likely have caused
South Africa more problems than the pass he made.
Zambia take the lead
On 18 minutes, though, Chipolopolo went ahead after Booth gave up a careless free kick, slicing down James Chamanga on the edge of the box, more out of frustration than the necessity to make a desperate tackle.
Chamanga's ire was raised when Zambia continued to play on after Siboniso Gaxa was felled by a hard tackle. It seemed the right thing to do would have been to kick the ball out of play so that the SA defender could be attended to by the first aid people, but the Zambians chose to continue their attack.
Elijah Tana struck the free kick under the wall of defenders that was meant to provide goalkeeper Fernandez with some cover, and when he failed to hold onto the low strike Chamanga made South Africa pay by sticking the ball in the back of the net.
Two ahead
Six minutes later Christopher Katongo, who plays for PSL club Jomo
Cosmos, rocked South Africa when he scored Zambia's second goal to put his team two goals clear.
He claimed the ball in midfield and set off for the South African goal, holding off a number of defenders before striking the ball past Fernandez after a superb solo effort.
Trailing two-nil at the break, it appeared Bafana Bafana were on their way to an ignominious defeat, but the home side's players felt otherwise.
The fightback
On 63 minutes, a beautiful pass from midfielder Benedict Vilakazi found striker Lungisani Ndlela and he netted with a well-taken left-footed shot to pull South Africa back into the game.
Five minutes later, South Africa were back on level terms. A long throw-in by Peter Petersen led to a hectic scramble for the ball in front of the Zambian goal and Abram Raselemane got the touch that counted to make the score 2-2.
Neither of the teams could find the killer blow and so the contest moved to a penalty
shootout, where Free State Stars' goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene proved the hero for the "Copper Bullets".
He stopped Craig Bianchi's spot kick with the competition having moved into a sudden death shootout, and then converted his own shot at goal to win the game for Chipolopolo 9-8 on penalties.
Iceland
Next up for Bafana Bafana is a friendly against Iceland in Reykjavik on Wednesday. The squad for the contest looks very different from the line-up that fell to Zambia, with coach Baxter including plenty of European-based players.
One player who will be missing, however, is Shaun Bartlett, South Africa's all-time leading international goal scorer. He is out of the clash because of injury. Orlando Pirates' marksman Lebohang Mokoena has been named in his place.
Also selected up front are Porto's Benni McCarthy, Siyabonga Nomvete of Udinese, and Lungisani Ndlela of Supersport United.
Midfielders
The
midfield is littered with overseas-based players, with only Benedict Vilakazi of Pirates and Phil Evans of Supersport United playing their club football in South Africa.
Joining them are Borussia Dortmund's Delron Buckley, Sibusiso Zuma of Arminia Bielefeld, FC Copenhagen's Elrio van Heerden, Valerenga's Mbulelo "Old John" Mabizela, and Steven Pienaar of Ajax Amsterdam.
The defenders include rising Kaizer Chiefs' star Bevan Fransman, Ricardo Katza of Supersport United, Lucky Lekgwathi of Pirates, Blackburn Rovers' Aaron Mokoena, and Nasief Morris of Greek club, Panathinaikos.
Hans Vonk of Ajax Amsterdam and Rowen Fernandez will mind the net.
Apart from Bartlett, both Bradley Carnell and Quinton Fortune were not considered for selection because of injury.
The Iceland game is being played as a warm-up contest ahead of Bafana Bafana's crucial World Cup qualifier against Burkina Faso in Ouagadougou on 3 September.
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