Sunday, February 5, 2012

Sudan gunned down by mighty Chipolopolo

ZAMBIA reached the semifinals of the Africa Cup of Nations when they overpowered Sudan 3-0 in Bata on Saturday evening. An early goal from Stophira Sunzu and two second half goals from Christopher Katongo and substitute James Chamanga were enough to fire Chipolopolo to the last four for the first time since 1996. Zambia dominated the early stages of the match but failed to capitalise on their possession as they were unable to take advantage of a number of early corners won. The first chance of the match arrived in the 14th minute when Isaac Chansa released Emmanuel Mayuka with a brilliant pass, but his first-time volleyed shot was blocked by Akram El Hadi at the near post. However, Chipolopolo did find the back of the net just a minute later when Rainford Kalaba swung a free kick into the near post where Sunzu rose unchallenged to beat Akram with a powerful header.
Herve Renard’s men continued to dictate terms in the middle of the park and could’ve doubled the lead in the 18th minute when Christopher Katongo was put through on the right, but the captain’s low shot found Akram in position. It took 20 minutes for Sudan to get their first shot on target and that came as a result of a defensive error when Hichani Himonde’s poor cleared fell for Mohamed Bashir on the edge of the area, but his volleyed snapshot went straight to Kennedy Mweene’s gloves. Sudan then started to see a bit more of the ball but were dealt two heavy blows before the break when their two central midfielders Ala’a Yousuf and Nazer Hamed had to be taken off to muscular injuries just as they were starting to find their rhythm. Zambia had another good chance to extend their advantage in the 34th minute when they won a free kick in a similar position as the one which produced the opening goal. Kalaba stood over the ball again but this time he opted to cut the ball back for Chisamba Lungu who struck the ball well with the outside of his boot but saw his effort pushed away by Akram.
The second half started at a slow pace with the Zambians failing to launch the quick attacks we have come to associate with the likes of Kalaba and Mayuka, while Sudan continued to gain confidence to push up for the equaliser. Some good interplay from the Falcons of Jediane saw Khaliefa Ahmed firing wide from just outside the penalty area in the 54th minute, while Mohamed Bashir shot straight at the goalkeeper yet again two minutes later. Then things went from bad to worse for Mohamed Abdalla’s side in the 64th minute when Saif Masawi received his marching orders for a second bookable offence following a late tackle on Kalaba inside the penalty area. Katongo stepped up to take the penalty kick and although his initial attempt was thwarted away by Akram, the skipper was able to bury the rebound to give Zambia the two-goal cushion. It was always going to be a huge task for Sudan to get back into the game with a man less and the contest was eventually sealed in the 86th minute when substitute Chamanga received the ball on the left side and showed a lot of composure to beat Akram with a right-footed curler towards the far post. Zambia will now face the winners of the match between Ghana and Tunisia in the semifinals on Wednesday.

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